Data and software

Buying guide

The first question in this category is rarely about the software on its own. Most of what sits here is tied to an instrument, a thermal cycler, a real-time PCR system, a molecular diagnostics platform, and the package that drives it is only useful against that hardware. So the decision begins with compatibility: which instrument model the software was written for, which operating system the controlling workstation runs, and whether the version on offer still talks to the detector or block it was paired with. A control application two generations behind the instrument firmware can leave a working machine unusable, and that mismatch is invisible on a specification sheet.

Standalone analysis and simulation packages change the question. Here the deciding factor is the licence model: whether a licence transfers with a resale, how many seats or workstations it covers, and whether the vendor still issues activation for an older release. A used licence that cannot be reactivated is worth nothing, however capable the software. For diagnostics instruments bundled with their software, verify the calibration and service history of the hardware itself, confirm the optical or thermal components behave to specification, and check that any consumable-reading or assay-definition files are included, since a system arriving without them needs rebuilding before first use.

Price in this category spreads further than almost any other, which is why the range alone tells a buyer little. Prices run from EUR 30 to EUR 301.311, and the gap between those two figures is the gap between a single analysis licence and a complete diagnostics workstation. What a package or platform costs therefore depends entirely on which of those two things is listed, so read the individual listing rather than the band. For a buyer working to a budget, the used share matters: 76 percent of the listings are used. Refurbished and used systems listed for sale are more affordable than their new equivalents, which brings instrument-bundled software within reach of a smaller laboratory. The brands that recur, Illumina, Bio-Rad, Agilent, Applied Biosystems, iEi Integration Corp, set the reference points: their platforms are the ones against which a used listing is easiest to compare, because specifications and compatibility details for them are the most widely documented.

Types of Data and software

Which data and software types are listed?

Among the listings that specify a type, the catalogue divides into a few recognisable groups: data analysis software, molecular diagnostics equipment, simulation software, thermal cycler, molecular diagnostics instrument, real-time pcr system. Data analysis software is the broadest, covering statistical, visualisation and instrument-output processing applications used across almost every discipline. Simulation software sits apart from it, modelling a process or a reaction before any bench work begins rather than interpreting results after. The remaining types are hardware with software attached: thermal cyclers, real-time PCR systems and the molecular diagnostics instruments that run defined assays. A real-time PCR system differs from a plain thermal cycler in that it reads fluorescence during each cycle, so it quantifies rather than simply amplifies, and the software is what turns that optical signal into a result.

Much of this category serves biotechnology and life sciences directly. Real-time PCR systems and thermal cyclers do PCR, the amplification step that underpins molecular biology, genomics and molecular diagnostics; a real-time PCR system for gene expression analysis and a thermal cycler for amplicon preparation describe two distinct jobs a buyer searches for by name. Molecular diagnostics instruments run assays in clinical and research microbiology, often as the readout stage of an immunoassay or a nucleic acid test. Data analysis software for genomics and proteomics handles the sequence and spectral output those fields generate, and simulation software is also used for bioprocessing and synthetic biology work, where a pathway or a fermentation is modelled before it is built. Cell culture and protein purification groups rely on the same analysis packages to track their results.

The brands behind the data and software listings

The names that recur most are Illumina, Bio-Rad, Agilent, Applied Biosystems, iEi Integration Corp. For a buyer, a dominant brand means the compatibility and licensing details are easier to establish, because the platform is widely enough used that a given model's software requirements are documented and comparable across listings. Parts and consumable definitions for these systems can be sourced via Questpair, and a model from one of these makers is simpler to price against others of the same family than a one-off package from a maker that appears once. It also means a used instrument is less likely to arrive without reference material for its software.

What a used data and software listing costs here

Of the listings, 76 percent are used. Prices run from EUR 30 to EUR 301.311. That spread covers everything from a single transferable analysis licence to a complete diagnostics platform with its controlling workstation, which is why a figure from one end of the range says nothing about the other. Warranty is often possible and is arranged in consultation for the specific listing, so a buyer weighing a used platform against a new one should read the listing rather than assume terms. Both British and American spellings of the analysis and licence terms appear across the catalogue, reflecting the European and American suppliers behind it.