BD FACSAria Cell-Sorting System by BD Biosciences

"The Aria is a solid cell sorter. The o-ring on the nozzle can be challenging to reset, but they've fixed that on later models. It's relatively straight forward to set up sorting experiments once you have the staining and gating sussed. "

"Excellent sorter, able to work with high cell densities and to sort cells at very high rates. BD assistance for the solution of most problems is excellent. However the instrument is not so easy to work with and the software (FACS Diva) is not very user-friendly: an intensive training is required (provided by BD with the purchase of the instrument) and a dedicated operator or a few well-trained authorised users are strongly advised when the instrument is part of a multi-user facility. The instrument is expensive, as it could be expected for top-level equipment, but some details could have been designed better: for example, the interchangeable sorting nozzles are equipped with ultra-tiny o-rings which easily get lost and are a pain to recover and replace. In conclusion: recommended for its high performances, but it requires to be operated by only well-trained and experienced users."

"We perform stem cell separation assays in our lab in order to understand mechanisms underlying cancer progression and relapse. We use the BD FACSAria Cell Sorting System, which sorts a cell per drop and thus low volumes include high numbers of cells. Additionally, this machine is fast; although not as sensitive to the cells as other machines using different separation techniques. However, as the goal is to analyze cells immediately after separation this machine is very convenient to us. "

"Works well for my research. Can easily sort the cancer cells with different colors and markers."

"This is a really high speed cell sorter, you can sort cells of your interest from a mixed population and can seed it directly on to culture well plates. The Diva software is a user friendly Windows based software."

"I was upgraded to an Aria IIu several years ago. The upgrade was a great investment, greatly improving the performance of the instrument. However, this is an instrument that requires an experienced and well trained operator. It is not a high speed sorter if referenced against a MoFlo, but is much improved on the Vantage. As a rule of thumb the sample speed should be 1/5 of the frequency. In my hands the Aria IIu works best with a 85um nozzle, ~45,000 droplets/sec and a sample speed of <9,000 events/sec, at a sheath pressure of 45psi. My local service & support is superb."

"I got great results with the FACSAria, the performance was superb but it did take months to learn how to use it properly. The software interface that comes with it is not exactly user-friendly and the manual is too expansive and too general. There was a workshop to teach us how to use it in my own institute however I didn't find it too helpful as they just re-iterated the manual and didn't even do a test run. I wish I had known before purchase that it would require months of practise or to pay thousands to attend the BD Biosciences course in California in order to use it properly."

"It is optimal for my lab."