[Histonet] RE: Sakura VIP 6 vs Excelsior

[Podawiltz, Thomas]

We have the Thermo Excelsior and love it. However, we purchase ours just before they took over Fisher. Since then they have gone down hill in both the service and customer relations areas. Great equipment, they are just lousy to deal with. Going forward, probably won't get any more equipment from them. 

Tom Podawiltz, HT (ASCP)
Histology Section Head/Laboratory Safety Officer
LRGHealthcare
603-524-3211 ext: 3220
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From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu [histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Durden, Kelley [kelleydurden <@t> pathology.ufl.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 10:31 AM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] Sakura VIP 6 vs Excelsior

I can't say anything positive or negative about the Thermo excelsior.  I got some information from our sales rep and the processor seemed really great.

But when it came down to it we had to stay true to Sakura and we were not disappointed.  We have the VIP 6 and we love it.  This processor has some really amazing features.  I cannot enumerate all of them at this time b/c I'd take up lots and lots of space.

The features we use the most that we continue to be very excited about are the solution manager, the bottle check, the automatic solution rotation, cassette count, bulk reservoir tanks, and to help reduce exposure to xylene we definitely use the tubes provided to drain and fill the xylene carboys and we no longer pour solutions in and out of the carboys.  The carboys are nice though b/c they are a "wide mouth" size and there is a cap to put on the connector end so if you are walking to and from the processor with a carboy there are no spills from "sloshing" around.  If you want me to go into greater detail about any of this please email me back.

The menus are very user friendly.  The touch screen is easy to use - we always wear gloves to keep finger prints at bay.  The lid is ergonomically designed and easy to open and close.

We have had to request a technician twice - once for a lid sensor and once for a soft ware upgrade / update - but both times they've had a tech out here the next day.

I recommended this processor to another lab here in FL and as far as I know they are over the moon about theirs as well.

One other really great thing was that after we purchased our 6 I was sent to CA for a training at Sakura and the information I received there was invaluable.  The staff professionalism and knowledge was second to none and I left with a very thorough understanding of the machine.  I was able to come back to our lab and provide training to the other staff that use the VIP 6.

No I'm not a sales rep I am just a very happy customer.

Kelley
kelleydurden <@t> pathology.ufl.edu<mailto:kelleydurden <@t> pathology.ufl.edu>

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