> Varian claims that they will have a software-version of oversampling
> available.
---> We do indeed. Varian salespeople have a "news brief" filled with a variety
of 1D and 2D spectra illustrating our initial results. An article by
Varian's Marc Rosen on the subject which describes some of our innovations
has been submitted for publication to J. Mag. Res.; we hope you'll see
it in a future issue. Incidentally ALL oversampling/digital filtering is
done with software; the only question is in which computer that software
runs - does it run in a computer (or "chip") dedicated to that task, or in
a general purpose computer?
>
> 5. DMX uses Hamiltonian (Bruker built, based on R3000 cpu) computer,
---> Not one but TWO generations behind the latest MIPS/SGI technology (R4400).
> which is claimed to be totally compatible to SGIs and SUNs.
---> What is "totally compatible"? The "Hamiltonian" does not even run the same
operating system as SGI. It certainly will not run any commercial software
packages that run on an SGI or Sun. Does it use the same peripherals and
memory expansion? Does it finally have a reliable, industry-standard TCP/IP
and NFS?
> They also offer SGI
> Indigo, or Indy to replace Hamiltonian (This is still at the testing stage).
---> Varian has been delivering commercial workstations to our customers for
spectrometer operation since 1987. Bruker has been quoting this (when
pushed) for probably six months now, but has anyone seen one or evaluated
one in a Bruker lab, or had one delivered?
> Varian is using SUN SPARC 10 Station (or older SUN SPARC 2).
---> The UNITYplus spectrometer is fully compatible with the entire Sun desktop
product line: SPARCclassic, SPARCstation LX, SPARCstation IPX, and
SPARCstation 10 Models 30, 40, and 51 (the Classic, LX, 10/40, and 10/51
are the models on our price list, but any of the above can be purchased
either from us or from Sun). You have a wide range of price/performance
choices, not to mention even a choice of vendors (Varian or Sun). We haven't
sold the SPARC 2 for some time, but if you have one (or a SPARC 1 or an IPC)
that you are keen on using for a spectrometer, we do in fact support them
as well.
> Bruker's software is a little behind Varian's.
>
---> I leave the judgement questions to the evaluator. I will point out that
Varian has been delivering workstation-based NMR spectrometer control and
data processing software since 1987, and software written in a high-level
language (originally Pascal, now C) since the introduction of the XL-200
in 1977 (in fact the first scientific instrument of any type programmed in
Pascal). The software we are now delivering rests on a 16-year base of
high-level algorithms and program development.
Dr. Steven L. Patt
Product Manager,
Software & Data Systems
Varian NMR Instruments
3120 Hansen Way, M/S D-298
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1030
Phone: 415-424-5696
Fax: 415-424-6901
E-Mail: slp@nmr.varian.com