I beg to differ.
I have been an AKTA explorer user for about 5 years and switched to
DuoFlow about 4 yrs ago and now have one in my own lab. The BioRad
DuoFlow is awesome. It never ever breaks. I never had any problems
with this machine at all, it takes any column (pharmacia or
otherwise) given the right adapters. The AKTA are really cumbersome
and complicated to use and teach on - its all inside a big black box
that looks (and feels) like a tank, while the DuoFlow has a really
simple design, and is basically "plug and play".
The AKTA is really good for analytical applications when you have
very small amounts of your protein and of course you can detect
multiple wave lengths at a time (you can add special unit for multi
wavelengths on the biorad). The DuoFlow struggles with very small
protein concentrations (<0.05mg/ml) and the void volume on its tubing
further dilutes the sample. If you know what you are doing, it is
easy to optimize the setup in such a way that you minimize the void
volume on the DuoFlow.
Finally, the AKTA has an in line filter which always gets clogged up
when you have buffer with detergent. The DuoFlow does not have a
filter at all which means if your students and postdocs are not
careful, the filters in the column will get clogged. But all you need
to do is filter your sample prior to injection.
BioRad service is not so great but if you take care of your machine
you really dont need to worry. It is really robust. Plus, for the
price of an explorer you could buy two top-of-the-line DuoFlow
systems together with columns.
Tamir.
______________________
Dr Tamir Gonen
Department of Biochemistry
Box 357350
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
Tel: (206) 616 7565 (Office)
(206) 616 8529 (Lab)
Fax: (206) 685 1792
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://faculty.washington.edu/tgonen/
On Feb 14, 2007, at 8:19 AM, Frank Lee wrote:
Dear all,
Thanks a lot for all the feedbacks on AKTA prime. They are so
helpful that I have abandoned the idea of buying one. Now it is a
choice between AKTA FPLC and Bio-rad DuoFlow. I heard that DuoFlow
is not as robust as AKTA and that its parts break down often. The
question is whether quality difference is worth price difference (~
$10K). Any feebacks on DuoFlow would be highly appreciated!
Best,
Frank
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