John,
I have been quite satisfied with (Applied Biosystems LC 140B or 140C with
10mL syringe pumps). I have been using these for a number of years
without any difficulties. Unless I am extremely fortunate, these are
more reliable than the HP systems I have used in the past. Although
these are syringe pumps, I have no qualms about the need for refills
which occur quite rapidly: since my typical runs are at 50uL/min and
split down to about 1uL/min or less (for 100 to 75 um ID columns) for
about 10,15 min run. The benefit of syringe pumps is very good
reproducibility (flow and gradient). BTW, since I have quite a bit of
plumbing in front of my column (e.g., injector, split), I eliminated the
75uL mixer that comes with this unit. From the other that you mention, I
hear good things of michrom. Of the autosamplers, I would be favoring
the Famos.
Good luck,
Have fun shopping,
Paul
________________________________________________________________
Paul T. Jedrzejewski, Ph.D.
Barnett Institute
341 Mugar Bldg.
Northeastern University
360 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
phone: 617.373.2857
fax: 617.373.2855 http://www.barnett.neu.edu
__________________________________________________________________