MACSQuant^® VYB Analyzer by Miltenyi Biotec B.V. & Co. KG

"excellent machine - easy to use. would definitely recommend. Miltenyi has validated Abs which makes it easier to design and use flow panels. auto compensation feature is very useful as well. also readymade buffers."

"Great machine which has a small footprint and completely automated. Samples run reliably and it is a please to use."

"Nice small size fixed laser analyzer, easy to use. Can also do cell/event count in a defined volume. File transfer a bit convoluted but doable! Have had to interact quite a bit with tech support, service and sales in the past 2 years with continuous problems with alignment of lasers slipping gradually over a 4-6 month span requiring service, so definitely keep your service contract up to date!"

"For the MACsQuant or the Vyb as we call it, is a solid work horse of the lab. It goes from 9am to 4pm non-stop most days. Our use is mainly characterization of hematopoietic cells and the occassional adherent cell line. For 3 colour analysis its perfect. We have the three laser version and there is no real need for compensation if you use the vioBlue, FITC (GFP) and then the Y4 (PE/APC-Vio770 conjugated antibodies) channels. Miltenyi has a great selection of antibodies as well. We also do four colours very simply when we have mCherry which is detected in the Y2 channel. It can also do high throughput and we routinely run 96 well plates. Note - if you do not have the optional refilling station the running buffer will run out about 3/4 of the way through so you need to be there to replace it. The FACS also has a mix option as well so there is no problem with the cells settling in the bottom of the well either. Service: we have had no serious issues with the machine. Only once did we have serious blockage and at one stage one of the valves started to leak. But all were solved in a timely manner. They do come and update the software now and again but this also means you lose your data so you need to back this up. Analysis: we do all this in FlowJo. You do need to do Miltenyi Transform to see the cells but otherwise that's the only tweak required. Do note that the resolution of populations is not as good as a high end BD machine. But I guess this is why this machine is essentially 1/4 the price?! One nice feature is that it gives you a cell concentration as well because it takes a certain volume for each sample rather than continuously aspirate until it gets the number of stated events. All in all my impression from using it the last few years is that it is a great machine for all our routine 3-4 colour work. "

"There are three lasers (405, 488, 561 nm), two scatter (FSC, SSC) and eight fluorescent channels, this allows for good flow cytometry results as compared to other 2 laser systems. It is fully automatic and there are cool color codes for each reagent which light up like mini disco lights. It is fast, cell counts are available in less than a minute,"

"We bought the instrument for screening samples for expression of fusion proteins with fluorescent proteins. Its clever laser design allows detection of 4 different fluorescent proteins at the same time, reducing time analysis and increasing throughput. FCS files can be read in any flow cytometry analysis software. But currently we are using it for a lot of different applications, from cell cycle analysis from fish or plants to blood immunophenotyping."

"The machine is fine. We had some issues with the one we bought, several components had to be changed, eventually it got much more stable, the service engineers also got way more experience. Original software did not allow for much flexibility, but a new version came out and presumably some issues got fixed. Steep learning curve, but once you get some experience the setup is quite straightforward. 96 well plate sampler is a handy feature. Because of our experiments specifics, we need a flow cytometer in a flow cabinet. Macsquant is compact enough to fit in one."

"It is easy to use for automated sampling with a 96-well format. Automated staining of samples is possible. The after sale care is very good. However the software performance could be enhanced. An update to flowjo version 10 is a good step for the future improvements. It is very good value for money."

"My lab uses this machine and we have never had an issue with it. After-purchase services were never a problem."