Agilent 1290 or Acquity UPLC-MS?

[tadah]

Has anyone worked with both of these systems and if so, which one is more reliable? I would like to run about 10, 96-well plates overnight using ~1min run times, and need to purchase a system that is robust and will not hang-up because of software, communication, or hardware errors. I am not that interested in all the bells and whistles. Thank you.

[giacomo56]

Check out the Gerstel/Agilent solution.... Gerstel can accomodate you..

[rwang]

I think Waters Acquity with Sample Organizer could also get the job done nicely.

Waters Acquity and Agilent 1290 Infinity are probably the best two instruments in the UHPLC market. Contact your local Waters/Agilent rep and see if they could set up a demo for you.

If you want your UHPLC-ms system to work reliably, make sure you have good "lab hygiene" as the sub-2um columns and capillaries of UHPLC systems are very prone to blockage.

[carls]

In my experience the Acquity/Micromass system was prone to communication problems with the MassLynx software.

The Agilent 1290 is very robust. Initially the new Chemstation software was a little "buggy" but I believe much of this has been resolved in updates (no more problems). I have not tried Agilent's MS software. I use Analyst software with an AB Sciex MS without problem.

[MSCHemist]

I use the 1290. We manged to take a two 40 min analyses on the 1100 and combine them into 1 13 minute analysis on the 1290. I find the 1290 to be a very reliable instrument. The only issues I've had is we need to use an external bolt on heat exchanger and the small diameter lines will eventually break from repeated bending/wrenching of the column nut so have spares. Otherwise the only maintainance I've had to do is replace inline and the teflon filters in the pump/purge valve that catch the seal wear.

I agree the software can be a bit buggy.

In generally Waters has better software and Agilent has the better instrument.

[tadah]

Thank you all for your sugestions. Just one more thing. The Agilent 1290 can be purchased with a CTC injector in order to accomodate larger number of samples. They do not sell the plate loader anymore. Of course, once you place such an injector on a UPLC system, the dead volumes increase and the system moves away from its optimum performance. Does anyone have a CTC with a 1290 and if so how robust is such a setup? Any problems with the CTC injection valves? Thanks in advance.