What questions should you ask when buying a Spectrophotometer?
We can pick the right instrument by asking the following questions,
What is the wavelength range?
You may need to measure samples only in the visible or in UV and visible ranges.
What is the bandwidth?
This will affect how finely you can tune your results.
What outputs are available?
Many units allow results to be downloaded by USB, RS232 or SD card to either standard files like CSV or to their own software for analysis.
What modes does the unit offer?
Many units have built in photometrics, concentration or kinetics modes as well as the standard absorbance and transmittance.
What sample size do you usually work with?
Standard 1cm cuvettes need a few ml of sample, but specialized units are available for very small sample types.
What accessories are available?
Many instruments offer adaptors for specialised cells, printers or software for data analysis.
Are cuvettes included? Of what material and size?
You may prefer to choose from glass, quartz or plastic curettes separately to select a size and path length to suit your test.
What warranty is available?
Find out the length of warranty but also how you can make a warranty claim.
Is IQ/OQ documentation available?
For some units installation qualification and operation qualification procedures are available, if your lab requires this make sure it is available for your chosen model.
What service support is available?
If the unit has a fault, is technical support available.