I was thinking about buying some shimadzu LC equipment...I was wondering if anyone has any opinions about the machines

I'd go with either Waters or Agilent, frankly. They both make some very nice LC's. My preference is for Waters machines, but I expect that you'd be happy with either. I've never played with Shimadzu's LC's, but I have worked on some other Shimadzu instrumentation (A TOC analyser)and was not impressed with the machine, factory support, or the documentation that came with the instrument.

Merely my $0.02

Chris

We have several Shimadzu HPLC systems. We have found the equipment to be very reliable; requiring a minimum of maintenance. The operating software in fairly easy to learn, certainly simpler than ChemStation. My main complaint is that their documentation is not as complete as I would prefer, though you can purchase separate repair manuals for all system components which helps. I haven't had a chance to go over the newer (VP) system manuals but they needed to improve the clarity of their manuals. It was apparent in several places that the manual was translated into English. Sometimes this caused the instructions to be confusing. The repair manuals do not seem to have this problem, or at least I haven't encountered one yet. We also had a problem in the past with software that was not as compatible with an older PDA detector as it was supposed to be. However, before buying from any manufacturer, I would suggest making sure you have good sales and service support in your area and checking the system out as much as possible before buying one to make sure it will work for your samples. Shimadzu in our area used to provide demo equipment, though I do not know if they did it for entire HPLC systems.

You'll have to consider what reproducibility and accuracy you need for your analysis. Shimadzu, like other system such as merck-hitachi, has autosamplers where the needle is moving X-Y-Z. Other systems such as Waters and Agilent has autosamplers where the vial "comes to the injector-needle" instead of the needle moving to the vial. These autosamplers (only moving up'n'down) generally shows better reproducibility than X-Y-Z's. I have been working on all of the above mentioned HPLC's, and my favorites are Waters and Agilnet, but I know that this depend a lot on which kind of work, you're using the HPLC's for.

Good luck with your purchase

Hello Abbifar
your not seem to be up todate.
The SIL-10ADVP's (current model) needle does not move in Y-direction and it is far better in terms repeatability, carry over, linearity and accuracy than the former models.

OK, I stand corrected. And yes, it is an older model of shimadzu I've been using. Does the SIL-10ADVP still move in X-dir? And do you know if it can match Agilent 1100 and Waters Alliance? Not that I'm considering scrapping my Agilent and Waters, but I would like to be updated

Shimadzu LC10VP series is a highly modular system, you can configurate your LC system as you need it. The last version of Class-VP software is excelent, really I was surprised about its power and flexibility, especially generating customized reports. I agree regarding manuals, they need to be improved.
I've used HP/Agilent 1050, 1090 one of the best without any doubt, 1100 (mmm...), Thermoseparation and PE, all of them very good pieces of equipment. I also agree with anonymous 07/26.We also have found the equipment to be very reliable; requiring a minimum of maintenance

Regards.

Here's my 0.02....I have spent 8 years working on LC's (HP1100, 1050, 1090, Waters MODI, 2690) and only recently worked with Shimadzu, and have had nothing but problems. It is rare that a run goes through the night without something going wrong. This includes hardware and software. Worse than that is the technical support. The people working at our company know way more about the instruments and software than the sales rep or technician. My advice is to spend the extra money and get an Agilent or Waters

Follow this link for a look at what a pissed off customer will do. I thought it was funny, but I bet Shimadzu doesn't.

http://www.geocities.com/shitmadzu/

My understanding is that that link (and others similar to it) are not by a PO'd customer but from a former employee.

We have been using a Shimadzu Class VP (currently 5.03)HPLC system for 3 years now and are very happy with its performance. The hardware has been almost bulletproof and to me does what any good piece of equipment should - it does its job well with a minimum of fuss and attention. We had some major problems with the software originally, with version 5.02 having significant deficiencies, which have been fixed in 5.03. I would stress however, that you should use Windows NT 4 SP6 - not Windows 95 or 98. We started of using Win 95, went to Win 98, but had major problems with stability - I could force an illegal operation error within 15 secs of starting the program. We were having 3-10 crashes a day!
Since changing to Windows NT, we have had 4 crashes in 10 months (3 possibly due to computer failure, 1 definitely due to the HPLC).
Regarding the autoinjector: We have found it to have good reproducibility from 0.2 to 50 ul injection volume.
We also have a Thermo HPLC as the LC part of a Finnigan LC-MS, purchased at the same time as the Shimadzu. The Shimadzu is far more reliable and has far less injector problems than the Thermo unit.
Re: The WWW link supplied by Tom Mizukami - This guy has been bad- mouthing Shimadzu, the City of Baltimore, and anyone else who has "displeased" him. I would take any comments from him with a truckload of salt.

Please do not think I agree with that website. As I stated earlier, I just thought the site was humorous. I have no opinion on the new Shimadzu equipment. I have been using HP1100s/ChemStation and Waters Aliance/Millennium32 for the last 5 years. My last experience with Shimadzu was on old equipment and that experience is not relevant to any discussion today.

I have found the HP1100 more reliable than the Waters Alliance while the Millennium software is more powerful than ChemStation. However, Millennium is more difficult to learn for new users and gets you into the business of Oracle administration.

Before purchasing any HPLC/CDS I recommend getting a few local references for the manufactures you are considering and taking the systems for a test drive and determining how well the system features map to your requirements. Also try to determine the level and quality of support you will receive, average response times, % of repairs completed on the first visit, etc. If you are in the Bay Area and want my service opinion, failure data, or to test drive HP or Waters systems, send me an e-mail.