Truckster (Vic) replied:

Have a search of the archives, its been talked about almost as much as Fridges, tires, and potabogs

Greg Harewood replied:

If your talking about MapInfo - the high end GIS program then I suspect only a few “recreational” users who would have used it considering it cost $3,000 plus (??). There is an add on to make it function as a GPS plotting/logging tool but I would suspect (having never used it seriously) that it is not as purpose built as say OziExplorer (which only costs ~$130). Arcview GIS also has a similar add on. If you can get you hands on a copy of MapInfo illegally then I suppose it’s worth a bash (not that I condone this type of activity) but I would not rush out and buy it unless you were using its other GIS abilities (eg map creation and spatial analysis) for work or if you’ve got lots of time and money and don’t know what to do with it – The program also has a steep learning curve that may leave some slightly frustrated.

In my opinion OziExplorer is the best, most affordable GPS Mapping program available and will suit most people’s needs. A lot of people use it so if you have problems help is not far away. Give it a good look over (free trial download from www.oziexplorer.com) – if it doesn’t do what you want (doubt it) then move on.

Cheers
Greg

scottyd replied:

There was an "add on" that came with MapInfo 7.5 called (from memory)the "Geographic Tracker" from Blue Marble Geographics. If you have the original CD it should be on there somewhere. There may be other MapBasic programs around that offer GPS tracking/logging functions. A google search might help track some down.

Member - Dragan T (VIC) replied:

Thanx for the reply everyone!!!! Scotty you sure are on the money 'cause I saw that blue marble add on working in conjunction with map info. And it was bloody accurate I tell ya!!!

Jarrod replied:

Dragan, Excelent answers above, but one other thing - The mapping datums are two completely, non-interchangable formats. Mapinfo, and arCview use "Vector" maps, where Ozi, fugawi, and others use "raster" type maps. Vector maps are bassically digital information maps, wher rasters are digital images of maps with GIS info ( Map co-ordinates) overlayed. Vector maps are exxy, and as stated above I would highly reccomend Ozi as a 4 wheelers mapping software friend.

Goodluck.
Jarrod.