>We are planning a grant to purchase a new confocal, presumably one with
>faster acquisition (video rate?) and better sensitivity than our MRC600.  I
>have been rereading some of the old traffic regarding what is the "best"
>confocal in current opinion.  I have heard virtually nothing about the
>Noran and Meridian instruments in comparison to Nikon, Zeiss, BIorad and
>Leica.  Are they not worth the energy to investigate or do the users not
>read this list?  Dave
>
>Dr. David Knecht
>Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
>University of Connecticut
>U-125
>Storrs, CT 06269
>[log in to unmask]

Don't sell them short - in today's market, you owe yourself a demo of every
instrument available.  You must make a decision regarding the major
application of the scope: real-time vs. "static" (which on most machines is
not really and truely static). Both Noran and Meridian have new models
available, and while I cannot address the Noran instrument (I'm not a
real-time person), Meridian has made great strides in making their
instrument more versatile.  They have always had, in my opinion, very
user-friendly software that suffered in many peoples eyes simply because it
operated in a rather clunky-looking "Windoze 0.01" environment.  In fact,
their software (or the last version of it I saw) was quite well thought out
and I would bet it looks "jazzier" now.  By the way, it would be
interesting to know if the Nikon video-rate point-scanner
(RCM-whateverthousand) still being marketed and/or developed.
Rob Palmer
CEB/UT