NovoCyte Flow Cytometer by Agilent Technologies

"The startup takes just 3 minutes + 2 min for QC, within 5 min you are ready to run your samples - that is extremely fast. In the other end - when you are done with your analysis, you just shut down the instrument and the computer, the NovoCyte cleans itself and shuts down when it is done. You do not have to wait until the cleaning cycle is done. The software is very intuitive and user friendly - and the "multi-tasking" ability is time saving. It is great to be able to change gate, make new plot etc. on already acquired samples and then just transfer these new and better gates to your whole experiment, while new samples are being acquired. The maintenance is little and easy. We do not have a service contract because the instrument is so stable."

"We are using Novocyte for three years with no trouble. Compaired to other instrument, Novocyte and NovoExpress are very easy to use. I was really impressed by ACEA product/service. They know what they are doing. In addition, NovoSampler provides versatility in acquiring multiple sample formats ."

"The very efficient instrument, with a robust, user-friendly software. Specimens of nearly to 90% of patients with leukaemia and lymphoma (adults and children), as well as pediatric patients with primary immunodeficiency are analyzed on our instrument; In the majority of cases, diagnostic decisions have been based on flow cytometry reports generated with 6 colour NovoCyte Instrument. The machine is easy to use and obviously, the best value for money. I would absolutely recommend the instrument to any flow cytometry core, in my experience, the NovoCyte outperforms all BD and BC cytometers I worked with."

"The protocol is simple and easy. The results are stable and consistent"

"positive remarks: - novocyte is an extremely robust, simple to use and very economical equipment. It comsumes very little buffer, needs only 20ul of sample. - It has an eppendorf tube holder (goodbye BD special tubes ). - The machine turns off automatically without any supervision. when you finish your experiments, you want to leave, you just have to press the shutdown button . - You do not need to know cytometry to operate. Forget FSC & SSC. You don't need to "serch cell", the novocyte will find it automatically. - The software comes with additional licenses to install on other machines and exports data compatible with fcs2.0 / 3.0 for analysis on FCS or other software. - The equipment is extremely compact and lightweight. Fits in anyplace. - Automatic compensation works very well with antibody labeling. In contrast to some equipment from other companies, the compensation can be applied after acquisition, since you have aqcired compensation controls.   negative comments - You need to buy the original wash / cleaning buffers (there is no recipe to make it, and this is very bad outside US, because nobody has stocks), although they are cheap and last for an eternity. -The equipment comes with three software licenses and each additional license costs $ 1000. This is too much !!! FCS express is less expensive... - As the equipment does everything by itself it's very difficult to change parameters for aqcisition. We observed some issues when aqciring GFP and dsRED transfected cells. Even adjusting fluorescence intensity the equipment does not compensate!!! - In my opinion, the only worrying and unresolved defect is precisely related to the acquisition of very intense fluorophores. I can not compensate for GFP and dsRED in transfected cells. Compensation works very well with antibody labeling (Fitc, PE, APC, Percp), however I can not compensate cells transfected with GFP and dsRED simultaneously."

"Easy to you training new user, even without any previous experience, is easy. Auto- start and shutdown procedures prevent clogging etc. Autosampler is big plus. Would never buy another analyzer w/o it. Once response to technical problem was initially slow. Required additional phone calls to be solved."

"I have only wonderful things to say about the Novocyte. It is incredibly easy to use, we get reproducible results, the software is the best one out there, the maintenance is super easy, and ACEA has excellent technical support! Can't wait to upgrade to the 25-channel instrument!"

"My favorite thing about the instrument is that it does its own off/on cleaning routines. Given how often you have to change the filters, I wish acea biosciences sold them for cheaper."

"Easy to use. Software is fairly intuitive. Exporting results is a little time consuming. Consider option for independent PMT's for each channel when purchasing. I was new to flow cytometry when i purchased and was not made aware of the shared PMT's. I have had issue with separation for particular fluorochromes and was unable to perform a voltage adjustment due to the PMT being used for another channel. Had to slot in a different fluorochrome on a 9 color panel that was already designed."

"The Novoctye by ACEA Biosciences is an excellent flow cytometer. ACEA have put some careful thought into producing a cytometer which is simple to use and maintain. We have the autosampler add-on which enables automatic loading of multiple samples and along with the automated start-up and shutdown options save us a lot of time. The Novocyte has a small physical footprint, which is great if space in the lab is at a premium. The large dynamic range of the Novocyte means no PMT adjustment so inexperienced users can set up experiments easily without struggling to set voltages correctly. Although we have a 13-color model realistically 8-9 colors is the maximum you’d want to use but at that level it shines. The absolute count function has become the go to counting method in our lab making our hemocytometers obsolete. We’re happy with the reliability and reproducibility of the data it produces and the icing on the cake is great technical support making the Novocyte a smart choice for any research lab and comes highly recommended by us."

"Great instrument, user friendly software. We usually analyze 7-10 colors, the signals are separation pretty well. I highly recommended the auto-sampler, which saved much of our time. We only need to set up the compensation, leave the samples on the rack, click run. The machine will acquire all the samples and then shut down automatically. In addition, the company has such a nice and powerful technical support team. Recently, we encountered a small problem. After sending the message, unexpectedly, the technical support replied right away, walked us through step by step, till the machine started to run smoothly. Never seen such strong support from other companies."

"The NovoCyte is a great bench top flow. It is especially great for working and training students with limited experience with Flow Cytometry. The software is very intuitive and easy to use, and the autosampler is such a time saver! I can walk away after the first few samples, and the machine does the rest, including shutting itself down. Maintenance is a breeze, with only a few filters that need to be switched out."

"The Novocyte has provided our scientists with an efficient method to examine and characterize key markers for our human stem cells and cardiomyocytes. The easy-to-use NovoExpress software provides an intuitive interface that allows the user to easily catalog and label all samples run. The 96-well plate sampler automation platform has greatly improved our throughput by allowing for walk-away ability to run many samples sequentially. In addition, our lab has been very satisfied with the customer care and technical support that has been provided!"

"Amazing Benchtop Flow Cytometer! We love the ease of use of the instrument. The software is extremely easy to use and I would say its an extremely improved version of BD Diva software!! Due to this reason, people in our lab didn't have any problem in transitioning to this machine! In fact software wise, both for setting up and Analysis, we use only the Novocyte (NovoExpress) Software. We had the machine for a little over an year now and never had any major issues. The time to run a full 96 well plate might be a little slower compared to competitors but for the value of money, ease of use, maintenance free and excellent customer support, I would greatly recommend Novocyte. Most importantly, we run a 7-8 color panel routinely and reproducibility and precision is amazing!! Last but not the least, we love the automatic shut down feature that lets us run a plate at the end of the day without needing to be around to clean and shut down the machine!!!"

"The Novocyte is extremely easy to use and provides great reproduciblilty between experiments. I absolutely love the sample automation, using both 24 and 96 sample formats! It's made my work so much more efficient, especially when running samples cultured in 96-well plates. Experiment setup is very fast and convenient. Because each fluorescent parameter is not adjusted individually, it can be more difficult to optimize the appearance of the data. Our lab has been very happy with the customer service, and the instrument is a terrific value. It has the capability of a machine 3-4 times the cost. I would absolutely consider purchasing a Novocyte if and when I set up my own lab."

"Easy to use instrument, intuitive software, virtually self-maintaining with automated end of day cleaning cycle. The automated 96-well plate or 24-tube rack system has increased our lab productivity and has become an integral part of several high-throughput projects. The recent switch to running dI H2O has saved us $$$ on sheath fluid. The sales and technical support teams are responsive and great to work with!"

"We've been using the NovoCyte for routine clinical flow cytometry (immunophenotyping, stem-cell monitoring, proliferation-assays etc) for almost two years, and the instrument runs very smoothly. Compared to other instruments, it is very user-friendly with respect to both the daily maintenance (which pretty much takes care of itself during automated start-up and shutdown procedures) and data acquisition/analysis. New users with no previous flow cytometry experience can operate the NovoCyte on their own after a day or so, and users with experience from other instruments are up and running in a matter of hours. The NovoCyte really is very simple to use. In terms of performance, you get a lot of flow cytometer for your money. CVs are comparatively low, and the sensitivity is more than adequate for routine applications (good to excellent sensitivity of the shorter wavelengths, whereas detection of faint, far-red photons is probably a bit below average - but still good enough for detection of all but the most weakly expressed antigens). In principle, you could run a 13-colour panel on a three-laser NovoCyte, but 8-9 colours is more realistic, given the usual constraints of fluorochrome/antibody availability, weakly expressed antigens, spill over-spreading after compensation, and such. If you really need 13 colours, this is probably not the instrument for you - but with 8-colour panels (or less), you'll be fine. In my experience, the absolute volume determination is as good as bead-based methods - so we've come to rely on the NovoCyte AbsCount function to monitor CD34+ stem cells and CD4+ T cells in the clinical setting. The hardware seems pretty robust, too - we've moved the instrument around from time to time with no discernible impact on laser alignment, and the fluidics are simple and well-designed (easy access, solid-feeling fittings and valves). In short, the NovoCyte does what is says on the box, and does it well. And considering the price, that's quite a feat! "

"The novocyte is very easy to use. Measurements are specific and time efficient. After measurements data is very easy to analyze and to retrieve data also after measurements as the novocyte stores all data."

"Our lab focuses on immunological mechanisms that regulate fungal disease. Therefore, immunophenotyping of cells involved in protective or pathological responses is of high importance. For many years, we had struggled to do this using staining and microscopy techniques. While the data achieved was sufficient, it was semi-quantitative at best. Since acquiring the Novocyte 2060, efficiency and productivity in our lab has increased dramatically. It's not only great for counting immune cells, we now also regularly use it for enumerating fungal preps prior to experimentation. The absolute count feature on the Novocyte makes this possible. Departmental colleagues have also used it for cell-based drug screening assays. Our lab did not have extensive experience using flow cytometry prior to purchasing the Novocyte. However, we have found the hardware and software incredibly intuitive and easy to use--even for the novice. We feel the data is high quality, much more insightful than our previous assays, and easily communicated thanks to the versatile "report" feature. The sales team at ACEA has been absolutely top-notch. They respond quickly to emails and inquiries, even taking time to help analyze data and experimental design. We have had 0 problems with our Novocyte, but if we do, I feel confident that ACEA will help us effectively. After shopping around, we felt that the Novocyte was indeed the best value. In fact, we are so pleased with its performance that we plan to upgrade to the Novocyte 3000 in the very near future. The modularity of the laser and filter system allows for expansion--an incredibly nice feature. In summary, we are extremely happy with our purchase and look forward to using the Novocyte extensively. "

"The Novocyte is extremely easy to use and maintain. The concept of not adjusting voltages during experimental set-up can seem unusual at first for an experienced flow user, but it makes running experiments much more efficient and it is simpler for flow beginners. I particularly like the NovoSampler accessory, which makes it possible to leave plates acquiring - no need to load samples tube by tube! The software is well designed and user friendly, and feedback to ACEA from NovoExpress users has led to various updates which have increased the ease of use even further. From single to 10-colour panels, data generated is reliable and reproducible. "

"Acea makes a really nice bench-top flow cytometer. I've put it through its paces and have been very happy with the quality of the data as well as the stability of the system. The software is intuitive and easy to learn even for first time flow users. The built in QC functions and cleaning protocols keep the instrument running smooth without any user intervention, just turn it on in the morning and power it down at the end of the day. All good. "

"I bought the instrument in June last year and I am very pleased with the instrument, as it is very easy to train new users as the instrument is so easy to use. The Novocyte performance is great giving G1 CVs of about 5% on Ho33342 or DAPI stained cells off the violet laser. It has very user friendly software the manual compensation is very good. The data resolution gives comparable results with low numbers of molecules on cells (<3000) to BD instrumentation. I like the great flexibility of log to linear scaling without having to collect the data twice. The cell absolute counting works well and is very popular with my Users and the instrument has not had a blockage in 9 months of use."

"The Novocyte is very user-friendly especially when training students or personnel with no previous flow experience. We purchased an autosampler with the system and it has been such a timesaver, allowing you to walk away after watching the first few samples. Given that it can do absolute counting; we are now routinely using it to do our cell counts as well. The only downside I can think of is the 100ul at-a-time limitation for certain applications, but for the most part, we manage to work around it. Easy boot-down (just turn off and walk away while it goes through a cleaning cycle before shutting down). "

"We are using NovoCyte for two years; it is very user friendly and the software intuitive. There are almost no maintenance problems, nothing what we cannot handle by ourselves. We started to use the NovoCyte without any knowledge about flow cytometry and now we use almost nothing else. The results are reproducible and stable. No need to adjust parameters like PMT voltage."

"I manage the NovoCyte and am responsible for its routine maintenance and training. I cannot comment directly on its reproducibility in research experiments. However, I've received almost no complaints from my users, with the few exceptions being related to the inability of the user to adjust voltages as some are used to. It has caused concern among a minority of users that initial observed voltages for the violet laser may see the unstained population at 10^3 or 10^4 on log scale. From a managerial standpoint the machine is stable, easy to use, and easy to maintain. The software is intuitive and well-designed. There is room for improvement in the software's method of setting up user accounts (inability to alphabetize). NovoExpress is different from competing software packages in ways that will take some time to get used to, but in my opinion it is a better interface overall than a major competitor's software."

"The NovoCyte's speed and precision make high throughput cell viability analysis fast and reliable. Coupled with the NovoExpress software's intuitive interface, this unit has greatly decreased training and optimisation time and increased productivity."

"Even for flow cytometry beginners, the NovoCyte is very simple and intuitive to operate. Generated results were comparable with other tested analyzers, due to state of the art technologies in the NovoCyte. Our special attention was caught by the new software, NovoExpress workflow. This software is straightforward, and the software interface is easy to handle. The implemented auto compensation and hierarchic tree structure is a highlight for effective organization of experimental data. With a dynamic range data management (24 bit) and 7.2 decades logarithmic scale, there is no need for PMT voltage adjustment, which makes working pretty simple."