Need alternatives for Telerik RAD controls for ASP.NET Ajax

[gsander]

We are interested in the Telerik RAD controls for ASP.NET Ajax but the cost might be too much. I have been asked to look for alternatives. I know we are interested in the filter, chart and grid controls so I have been looking for alternatives for those but we probably would be interested in the whole suite if not for the cost. Does anyone have some good alternatives?

 

[ca8msm]

It depends on exactly what functionality you want/need, but some of the JQuery based plugins are very good for client side interation (I'm assuming that's the angle you are coming from).

Mark,

Darlington Web Design[tab]|[tab]Experts, Information, Ideas & Knowledge[tab]|[tab]ASP.NET Tips & Tricks

 

[whosrdaddy]

I use jqgrid on MVC and I like it very much. There is a paying version that eases integration into .NET. If you don't want to pay you can always build it yourself (like I did)

/Daddy

-----------------------------------------------------
What You See Is What You Get
Never underestimate tha powah of tha google!

 

[jmeckley]

same response to thread1600-1604816. I don't think that's a coincidence if you want RAD webforms controls then you will pay for them. otherwise you will be writing some code using the client and server languages where appropriate.

the good news is javascript isn't nearly as difficult with libraries like jquery. Sure you need to learn the concepts of how it works, but it is a simple library to learn.

tie some jquery ajax calls to web service (asmx) or webmethods that return json objects and your set.

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

faq855-7190
faq732-7259

 

[gsander]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Full disclosure on my part - I am not a developer; I am from the Infrastructure side so this is all difficult for me to understand. Our goal is to find controls that will allow us to more quickly make a more attractive and functional user interface for our websites. We like the Telerik RAD controls for ASP.NET Ajax but they are expensive. Cost is an important consideration but it is not the only one so I am looking at commercial as well as free alternatives to Telerik. I have found some commercial alternatives on my own (from DevExpress, Dundas and Infragistics) that I assume are competitive products.

My understanding of your responses is this. JQuery is a (open source) JavaScript library that can be customized. There are JQuery plugins available (also open source) that may help. Jqgrid is one of them. Your suggestions have prompted us to find the chart plugin options reviewed here

http://www.reynoldsftw.com/2009/02/6-jquery-chart-plugins-reviewed/.

One of our developers also found about these free alternatives from devexpress -

http://www.devexpress.com/Products/Free/WebRegistration60/.

When I started looking into Telerik alternatives this is what I would have been looking for.

 

[gsander]

Does anyone have an opinion of the free offerings from DevExpress? Do I have a good understanding of what has been suggested so far?

Thanks

 

[jmeckley]

sorry, I can't help there, I haven't used webform controls in a long time.

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

faq855-7190
faq732-7259

 

[gsander]

jmeckley - You have help me. I did not know those are considered webform controls.