[Histonet] Immunostainers

[GUTIERREZ, JUAN]

I have both machines in my lab.  Which one do I use the most?  The Benchmark from Ventana.  It is far easier to use with less prep time and in my and my pathologists opinion, a lot better staining.  It is also my personal opinion that Ventana offers much better customer support than DAKO does.  
Ultimately it comes down to what your needs are.  If you are running regular antibodies with regular detection kits then Ventana is the one for you.  If you are using some difficult primaries with some obscure detection mix then you should try the DAKO, or contact Ventana and ask them about their Discovery system.  DAKO might give you more flexibility with your detection systems, but on the other hand Ventana gives you more ease of use.  All you do is cut your section, dry it, slap a bar-code on it and run it.  On the DAKO you have to cut, dry, depar., hydrate, do epitope retrieval and then load on the machine.  If you are short of staff like most of us are, the choice should be easy.
By the way the only reason I have both machines is because tha DAKO was already here, but right now I.m trying to trade it for the new BMK XT.  That baby does IHC, CISH AND FISH on the same run.  
Sorry to rattle on.  Good Luck making your choice, you can call me if you want to know more about it.
 
Juan C. Gutierrez,HT(ASCP)
Histology Supervisor
Christus Santa Rosa Healthcare
(210)704-2533

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: Therersa Stegall [mailto:STEGTM <@t> samcstl.org] 
	Sent: Tue 3/16/2004 12:45 PM 
	To: Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu 
	Cc: 
	Subject: [Histonet] Immunostainers
	
	

	We're about to purchase an immunostainer for our lab.  We've sort of
	narrowed the choices down between the Ventana and Dako autostainer
	models.  Since both companies are competetive for pricing to us, we
	would like to hear any feedback good/bad/otherwise about these stainers
	from folks using them.  Any comments/advice you can offer will be
	appreciated.  Peace, Terre
	
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