Helpful opinions on QTOF purchase?

[redhawk]

Hello forum. I have recently joined this forum and am hoping to find some information. I have been asked by my company to evaluate and purchase an LCMS. I am coming into the final weeks until my decision deadline I am finally down to two systems. I can either have an Agilent 6550 QTOF with an Ifunnel and a Dart using Masshunter or an ABSciex 4600 TripleTOF and a Dart using Analyst/Peak View/XIC Manager. My question pertains as much to software as it does to hardware. I am a relatively new user to LCMS but hope to have a long career ahead of me in this community I did get to visit Agilent in Delaware and Absciex in Mass (along with pretty much all other vendors) and spend several hours hands on with both software but must admit I am a little too novice to give them a hard evaluation head to head. I don't want to make a decision I may regret 5 years down the road as my capabilities with both LCMS and these softwares improve. Can someone with experience on these instruments/softwares please provide me with some last minute insight on what would be the better choice and why down the road? Do you feel one software is stronger and more powerful or one is more polished and has a better data system? Your expertise and time is greatly appreciated!

[redhawk]

Anyone have an opinion on this?

[CE Instruments]

You have not provided enough information for anyone to pass comment Masshunter and Analyst will both carry out the job, usually it is the bias (existing experience) of the assessor that will provide a preference for a software type. Perhaps you should express why you are looking at LC TOFs Accurate Mass for QC ? Identification of unknowns ? Large molecule, Small ? Don't rule out the competition they may prove to be better still for your application.

[lmh]

and of course if you will have multiple people looking at the data, it's worth checking out the cost of additional licenses, and the attitude of the company to software anyway.
The vendors can probably be persuaded to send you a demo version for evaluation if you want to play around in the comfort of your own office, not under time-pressure, and see which software you prefer.