comparing price/quality between GC.

[elanaerobico]

Hello everyone!

I wish buy a new GC to my work, but as all, the price is a limiting factor to take a decision. The commun GC for me are Schimadzu, Perkin, Agilent, etc, but they are expensive and sophisticated to my aim. On the other hand, chinese factories (unknowed to me, e.g. Zheijian Fuli or Young Lin) apparently have lower prices, but I'm not sure about their performance. Someone with some experience in chinese GC who could give some approaches?
Thanks a Lot

[rb6banjo]

I understand your dilemma. But, my experience in this sort of thing is that you mostly "get what you pay for". Companies like the ones you mentioned have great reputations and pride themselves on the ruggedness and reliability found in their instruments. If I am you, I would try to make a better justification to your management for your purchase so that they understand how important a reliable instrument is to your work.

A used Agilent system might be what you need. What is your application?

[Peter Apps]

Ask yourself the question; "When it breaks, who is going to fix it ?" In other words, how good is the service back up in the area where I work ?

Peter

[MSCHemist]

Another good option is to buy an instrument from one of the professional refurbishing companies like Gentech. I bought a 6890-5973 MSD from them and it turned out great. They will give you a warranty forat least 90 days.

[CE Instruments]

You are in Chile. what is your local support like ? Find your local suppliers and the level of support they can offer. There is a much longer list of GCs available than the few you mentioned. We service support/sell Dani, Thermo and YL
When they say you get what you pay for this is not purely about Quality but you pay for the name. Agilent , Thermo and others build GCs in China. Dani build in Italy and Young Lin (YL) in South Korea. Buying second hand can be a great way to save $$ but I would never buy in the States to use in another country, I doubt most second hand re-sellers will offer support in Chile.
Find your local suppliers, get quotes and ask to have references of other customers in Chile. Don't pay a premium for a "name" but make sure you don't get forced to buy on price, there are some cheap GCS out there that really are cheap.

[elanaerobico]

Thanks to everyone.