I had the PCM 2000 demonstrated in my lab a couple of months ago, and I was
very impressed.  The images were top quality and it was extremely easy to
use.  The interface has been written to make things as simple as possible.
It also includes some nice 3D reconstruction and morphometric software.  I
don't any of the personal-end confocals are designed to do ion imaging.  I
am definitely considering purchasing one.

Farsh Guilak

-----------------------------

>        We are currently in the process of arranging a demo of the Nikon
>PCM 2000, the so-called 'personal confocal microscope' and I was wondering
>if anybody had any comments on this system.  Its niche in the confocal
>market is that it is fairly cheap (about 100k) and can be used for a
>variety of applications.  There are several microscopes that do what we
>want to do (calcium imaging) better than this one but we simply can't
>afford them.  Any comments on the clarity of images, ease of use, etc.
>would be greatly appreciated.
>
>
>Matthew W. Conklin
>University of Wisconsin