First I want to thank you all for your responses. I got about 22 responses
regarding my question about possible upgrades from DOS Elite software to the
Windows Expo software, and also answering the question about the Windows
WIN-FCM software for the FACScan.
1) One person suggested that having a lone Mac in the department was not a
big deal, as it is easy to network the computer to an NT environment. That
wasn't our experience, but that may have been a problem with our computer
support people more than with the system. The files are compatible witn
WIN-MDI and other related software analysis packages which have all been
mentioned. The advantage with Cellquest is that BD would cover it in
service, and I don't know how BD would react to WIN-FCS on their system.
2) A couple of people suggested the Cicero system from Cytomation, which
runs on a Windows NT environment, and they seem happy with it (though one of
the responses on that was from Cytomation).
3) Several people noted that both Win-FCM and Expo are manufactured and
programmed from the same company, Applied Cytometry Systems, so if both BD
and Beckman-Coulter (BC?) machines are in our department, there will be only
one interface (more or less, the Expo software is a more current version as
I understand it).
4) One person remarked that the Expo software didn't do anything more than
the DOS software, so they didn't buy it after demonstrating it. That's
probably true, but at least it now does everything that the DOS software
does. Last year when I asked the question, some people said that it didn't
run the autoclone, and the reply I think you all received said that it
worked fine.
5)The only problem people seemed to mention with the WIN-FCM was that the
"Dongle" connected to the parallel port seemed to go bad upon occasion. ACS
replaced it without question, but I imagine that that is a problem that
could be frustrating.
Conclusion: The windows packages seem to work okay, though some thought
Cellquest works better, though that could be a Mac prejucice :-). The
people who use them seem to be happy with them. They are not cheap, that
is, it isn't like buying a copy of MS Word or something like that, but they
seem to do what they are advertised as doing. There are about 10 users of
WIN-FCM in the USA, if my information is correct, and I don't have a good
number of Expo users.
We will probably get the Expo software if we have the money for it, sooner
or later I am going to be left in the dust in the DOS environment. For the
FACScan, I am not making the final decision, but we will have to upgrade
from the HP computer, even though we could use the 1972 solution for the Y2K
problem.
Sorry if this note was long winded, but I hope that this summary is useful.
Doug
-
{-----------------------------------------------------------------------}
Douglas Smoot
Immune Cell Biology Program
Naval Medical Research Center
8901 Wisconsin Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20889-5607
voice: 301-295-6272
fax: 301-295-0376
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Apr 03 2002 - 11:53:27 EST