Buying a refurbished Agilent 1200 HPLC advice

[eg@aaclab]

Hi Folks
We are looking into buying a refurbished Agilent 1200 HPLC with DAD or VWD and either a binary/quat pump
I've run some 1100s with DAD and LCMSD but it's been years so am not up to date and have been running mostly Shimadzus since...We're getting some quotes around $22-24k for complete refurbished systems with quat pump/DAD/computer and W7 w B.04.03 chemstation..For example:
G1311A,G1316A,G1313/29A,G1315A and 1200 degasser and I'm looking for a new lamp and pump seals at a min for refurb
I'd appreciate any advice on which components are best, what to stay away from, software issues etc..
I like the DADs for spectral info and to be able to quantify at various wavelengths and have never used the VWD..
We will be running this 3-5 days a week most of the year To-11 etc but would like the DAD to help with unknowns and mehtod development
Thanks!
Eric

[Multidimensional]

For the past few years, AGILENT has been dumping fully refurbished 1100-series HPLC systems on the market for about half price. **The 1100 "is" basically the same thing as as 1200, but with a different # screened on the front cover. They even sell them direct on EBAY !! A full system with Quat or Binary pump, DAD, A/S, TCC, software and on-site installation (plus a factory warranty) usually sells for ~ $19K. A great deal and you avoid all the broken auction equipment being resold by the equipment recyclers too. They also have complete 1220-series system, brand new, not refurbished, selling for around $16K with a Gradient pump, DAD and A/S, but personally I would not waste money on a 1220 when a full research grade 1100 system can be purchased for almost the same amount of money.

BTW: Whichever Agilent HPLC system you buy, make sure the pump has the active inlet valve (AIV) installed as that is the feature that males their pumps some of the best available at any price.

[Consumer Products Guy]

1100 and 1200 units have slightly-different panel color shade. Not much difference in the units. I've used both VWD and DAD, both are fine. Quat pumps seemed easier to use than our binary pump.