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Electron Microprobe Lab, University of Minnesota

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On Aug 31, 2005, at 1:13 AM, John J. Donovan wrote:

> That statement regarding a "fraction of what Jeol charges" is based
> on what ______ told me that Jeol quoted them for the ______
> upgrade.  _____ told me he was happy to buy my product because it
> was both cheaper and better. But I have to admit, I've never seen
> the quote from Jeol.
> john

[edits above are mine]


As I said in my earlier post, I have heard good things about PfW, and
I mentioned some of the additional features that are not available
with the JEOL propriety software.  And as I stated, we are spending a
lot of money for no increase in functionality, whereas a migration to
PfW would give us additional features.  One of the main reasons we
didn't opt to switch to PfW was a training issue -- we have dozens of
users that would need to be retrained.  It was certainly not at all
that I thought PfW was an lesser product.  In fact, I've not yet had
a chance to use it, and I look forward to playing around thoroughly
with it sometime.  And I will be the first to admit that the JEOL
propriety software is not perfect and certainly not the "best" or
only way to run a probe.

I don't know if the upgrade you mentioned was done under a service
contract.  If not, perhaps the cost is significantly more to do an
upgrade.  We also have a 8900R.  Perhaps an instrument of a slightly
earlier vintage, like a 8900L, would cost more.  It is also possible
that HP's line of compatible workstations has decreased in cost, or
it is possible that JEOL has lowered their install charges in the
face of increased competition.

It could very well be that JEOL did charge significantly more to do a
workstation upgrade to older instruments, especially for those
instruments not covered under a service contract.  However, those
labs in a similar situation as mine should be find a similar result
from quote requests.  Which is cheaper would very highly among
different situations.  This particular statement was true in some
situations, but it is clearly not universal.

Let's all just be careful in the future with similar statements.  If
anyone uses "I heard from so-and-so..." statements, we are dealing
with anecdotal evidence.  Granted, this isn't a peer-reviewed
journal, but don't be surprised if someone else had a difference
experience or has different information -- they might feel obligated
to share it.

Best,
Ellery

--------------------
Ellery E. Frahm
Research Scientist/Manager
Electron Microprobe Laboratory
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Department of Geology & Geophysics
Lab Website: http://probelab.geo.umn.edu