Which Cycler to buy? - Can you recommend any of these cyclers? (Aug/11/2011 )

Hi,

I am Microbiologist and i want to quantify Pathogens in Drinkingwatersystems (Biofilm and Watersample). We want to do this by qPCR, but my boss doesnt want to spend 50000€ for a qPCR Cycler. So I found this one from Roche (Lightcycler Nano), which is only about 15000€ and which meets my requirements. Has Anyone experience with this device? Do you have additional advice what i should remember when buying a qPCR cycler?

The other device is the ep realplex2 by Eppendorf. I dont have a price yet, but since i have the company just around the corner and the people there seem to be very caring i consider this system too (if the price is not too high).

Thanks for your suggestions in advance =)

Greetings from Hamburg
Thomas

Thomas,

To my opinion the biggest disadvantage of LightCycler is capillaries. The sensitivity of modern RT-PCR machines are the comparably same and I would choose Eppendorf. My opinion But as soon as the Roche nano is the tubes (not capillaries) I would base my choice on availability of service and consumables, the kits you will use (if this machines recommended for these kits), and other practical questions.

Light Cycler Nano is not a capillary based, it uses tubes or 8-well strips. But 32 wells is not much for qPCR, you need standards, replicates and so.
I would also consider Applied Biosystems StepOne (48-well) that should be around 21 000€.

Eppendorf is a good company for tubes and pipettes, but I would personally buy a cycler from the company that leads the market (i.e. Roche, ABI or RotorGene).