Chromatography Forum

A couple of things, although I must say I've only seen the instrument on a stand at Pittcon, I've not demo'd it properly.

Flowrate is limited to 2ml as you say.
Fittings are designed for the proprietry Waters column (and are made of Gold, and should be replaced with each new column, according to the Waters salesman)
Detector and column oven is set up for fast chromatography, the waters salesman suggested it would not be great at conventional chromatography
Can't be controlled by normal range of software (we use Chromeleon, which can control an Alliance, 1200, 1100 etc, but not an Aquity)

I usually do not participate in discussions of the instruments of different vendors. However, the last post contains some statements that are not correct. You can run columns with a larger particle size on the UPLC system, if you so choose. There is also no reason that the detectors or the column oven "would not be great at conventional chromatography". I can only see this as a misinterpretation of a statement by the salesrep, which was probably along the lines that the chromatography using classical columns will not be as great as when you use UPLC columns.

Also, the fittings are not made of "Gold", nor should they be replaced with each column. However, this is a marvelous idea, and I will propose it to the Waters marketing people. Consider the benefit to the user... after a few columns, you can bring the fittings to the jeweler and get a gold ring or a pair of earrings...
That's the way to sell UPLC systems!!!

Uwe,

i was also told at the Analytica Conference in Munich, by the Waters Sales rep. that the column inlet fitting is made of gold in order to withstand the backpressure.
That they needed to be replaced after each column replacement is something that the German sales rep. of Agilent said

I have two packs of 10 of the fittings sitting on my desk, they are gold plated SS. If they were solid gold they would be a snip at the £5 per fitting we paid.