Chromatography Forum

I am going to buy a new LC-MS/q-tof and I am looking between Agilent 6530 and Bruker maxis.
Since I haven't used QToF, I will greatly appreciate any help in deciding which instrument to go with.
Also I will greatly appreciate if any one can give me any details for the LC systems (Agilent and Dionex) that they used

My stock reply is "make the manufacturers carry out demonstrations using samples you have selected". If you are spending that much money, they will be happy to do so.

Be sure to look not only at the quality of results (sensitivity, accuracy of mass, etc., etc.) but also at other factors such as reliability (ask for references from happy customers), and check what the data-files look like. Does the data handling software do what you need? How big are the data files (can you handle the storage required)? Do you intend to have a service contract, and if so, what will it cost? You will find people who will swear that a particular instrument from a particular manufacturer is by far the best. This probably isn't true; you need an instrument that suits your lab, your staff, and your application, and the perfect instrument depends on your scenario. This is why demonstrations and test sample data are so useful.

Reps are always honest, but you do have to assume that any question left unanswered after being asked several times would have been given the answer you didn't want to hear.

The system you mentioned are not comparable. A 6540/6538 are supposed to be similar to a maxis.
As mentioned above the best way is via a demo by each supplier.

BTW out of curiosity, why are you not considering Waters system Q-ToF systems?

- Karen

Since you haven't used a QTOF yet, may I ask you why you specifically selected these two instruments? As it was previously said, they are not supposed to be comparable.

There are currently 4 comparable systems on the market: Bruker Maxis, Waters Synapt G2, Agilent 6540, ABSciex triple tof. Of course according to their respective manufacturer each is by far the best. What is true is that they are much better than previous versions. You should ask for a demo on each of them. Of course people also like to have customer's opinions, but you won't easily find someone that has worked on the 4 systems. I have had a Synapt G2 MS for a year and it works great. However I can't compare with other machines on a daily basis.