Agilent BioTek Epoch 2 Microplate Spectrophotometer by Agilent Technologies

"The EPOCH-2 plate reader is extremely user friendly and provides a wide variety of functions. The internal analysis for Gen5 is straight forward and fairly robust!"

"This product is easy to use including the software. It's affordable and gets the job done."

"Epoch 2 is a powerful equipment that allows users to work with nucleic acids, proteins, and cells. I love the easy way to get results. And the software is pretty intuitive, allowing me to set different assays."

"We took advantage of a recent special allowing us to get the fully featured Epoch 2 TC (touchscreen plus cuvette port) and a Take 3 for less than the cost of a base model Epoch 2. Having used it pretty extensively at this point I can say a few fundamental things about it. First off, it is an absolute dream to work with. The software is VERY powerful and the reads very fast. The software alone is going to allow us to dramatically decrease the amount of time our production personnel use for this step. Let alone the fact that the calculations will reduce potential sources of error. My only critique, I would say the touchscreen is a bit of a gimmick. In the lab with gloves on, you end up needing a keyboard and mouse anyways. As such, it offers almost no advantages over a separate PC system. It, in and of itself, is simply a tablet mounted to the top of the device. The only major advantages for the touchscreen being the slight space savings. Essentially, if you can afford the space, just go with a separate control PC. As for the other features, most have been huge improvements over the original Epoch. The cuvette port has allowed us to transition SOPs over with very limited changes to the protocol. It has also proven to be VERY useful for calculating buffer coefficients (for pathlength detection, which further decreases error). The built-in heater (can set the temp from RT to 65°C) allows for elevated temperature assays. We recently performed a multi-hour kinetic assay which required a constant 37°C over the time of the assay, something which previously would not have been possible with our other readers. Additionally, the integrated shaker has proven VERY useful at decreasing variation in materials which might be aggregating or settling. By creating a shake step before the read, we can ensure that materials are uniformly dispersed when taking our reading, reducing the CV from run to run. Other things of note, the carrier tray is now machined metal instead of the plastic in the original Epoch. They still utilize the same strobe lamp system, which allows for the instrument to remain on 24/7 without worrying about lamp life. Personally, I find this instrument to be incredibly top notch and well built."

"This plate reader is easy to use and produces great data with high reliability."

"Very easy to use, allows you to read microplate and cuvette, very good software to analyse the data."

"BioTek product Epoc2 is really an awesome instrument for the operation of broad spectrum of work. We are really happy with their service and support, which I think is the most valued part of the company work theme. Thank you. "

"The BioTek systems are a favorite in our lab. Our newest edition is the Epoch 2. It is great quality for the price, reliable, and easy to use. The support staff are fast and friendly, too. You can't go wrong with a BioTek product. The sales people will find the product that suits your needs and the technical staff will show you how to use it and troubleshoot the equipment."

"Very effective and quite easy to use but sometimes have issues."