Hi Shepherd You're going through the same dilemna that many of us must continually go through. To be honest, if I was starting with GIS from scratch, was doing GIS for just myself, had a good budget & wanted a mainstream desktop system that could deliver the best stuff both both in terms of social & environmental geography, I would undoubtedly go the esri (arcview) path. It is my belief that esri have substantial updates, the most academically sound products, and also some of the fastest running code. A big reason for this is Esri's size, and its range of products. However, that said, often there is a bigger picture. For example, although arcview may be a better GIS & includes the Avenue programming language, it does not include a code-capturing window. MapInfo has its mapbasic window, & being able to cut & paste code from this into a mapbasic program makes MapInfo one of the most productive programming environments I have seen. What "exactly" do you want GIS for? If its simply map making then MapInfo may be the way to go. If its "complex" spatial queries then ArcView may be the way. You need to be aware that you may need to be compatible with other users, or potentially may lock them into decisions you make. If you're a programmer & trying to sell your wares, you'll need to be sure your target market can run your software. There is also the issue of price & cost of upgrades. You need also to be aware that some GISs work really well on small datasets but not on larger ones. For example, I purchased IDRISIs CartaLynx topology builder last year, but in > 4 hours of processing, it could not achieve what PC ArcInfo could achieve in around 2 minutes. You mention Manifold. I cannot comment on this yet. Its web page makes it sound very impressive but my biggest concern is that it may turn out to be another CartaLynx performance-wise. I will be evaluating V5.0 when it is released & intend posting a review on MapInfo-L once I have done this. Please feel free to email me again if you have any more queries. Regards, Ian Allan For example, I got a quote from esri recently for ArcInfo. At $51K AUD for the basic product, this is well out of the range for my small business shepherd stewart wrote: > Hi Everyone, > > I have been reading the threads on MI and ArcView in the same office and am > interested in peoples opinions as to value. I am considering purchase of a > GIS but would like info on value vs functionality. > > Can anyone suggest a GIS system that gives the best 'bang for your buck' > for business applications such as demographic studies, network analysis and > has decent spatial modeling capabilities? Map Design and layout > capabilities are important also. > > I have used ArcInfo and ArcView but realise there are other systems such as > MI, Esri Atlas GIS and Manifold. Unfortunately, as everyone knows many > systems lack basic functionality required to complete a project and either > you need to buy expensive 'add-on' modules or use a different program to > complete the project. > > For example, what does the Esri Atlas GIS give that you cannot do with > ArcView and a business add-on? Manifold claims it does way more than MI. > Are there users experienced with several of these systems that could shed > some light on the relative strengths and weaknesses of these systems? > > Is one of these systems head and shoulders above the rest? > > Thanks in advance, > > Shepherd Stewart > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from this list, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put > "unsubscribe MAPINFO-L" in the message body, or contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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