RE: [DIYbio] miniPCR is live on kickstarter

That's a difficult question to answer since new machines are very expensive and the used market varies from region to region.

I started my lab with a GeneAmp 9600. It's a big beast but reliable. I bought it, used of course, for $250 USD. It uses car antifreeze coolant as its refrigerant and can be maintained easily with minimal effort. It will surely outlive me!

It's a very large and heavy machine so finding a supplier within your own country may be difficult. If you do find one, and can't seem to find another of its more recent models, make sure you ask the seller to run the diagnostics tests especially the CHILLER TEST and to send you a screenshot of the device stating CHILLER TEST PASSED. Most machines sold on eBay are broken and more often then not, especially on newer peltier driven machines, the peltier device is fried and can't cool anymore.

In general you should look for a machine that has a working heated lid, 0.2mL tube block, at least 24 wells, and passed all available on-board diagnostics. I got lucky and found an Edvotek Edvocycler on eBay for $350. It's a decent machine and I've used it to build all my plant constructs. It can't do stepwise temp or time increments and can't reliably go down to 4c or hold a constant temp for more than 30min without the heat block falling into a thermal run-away and crashing, but for intro stuff if and only if you can find it cheap, go for it.

The later models of the geneAmp like the 2400 or if you are lucky and find a 9700 or 2720 working are also good. Price points that are fair for any used peltier-type is no higher than $600 and 300 for the old 9600. Biometra also has the really nice but rarely found working UNO. It's red, compact, and if anything works really well as a precise heat block for restriction digests or ligations (I use one currently for that).

There is also the Techne Genius and all the knock-off brands copying the design. The controls are funky in a bad way but it does its job if you find one that works.

The GeneAmp series of pcr machines all have very easy to use and straight forward diagnostics in the utilities menu and asking a seller to run it and share photos of results is a good way to get peace of mind when it comes to buying a used pcr. I got burned a few times with non functional units because seller had no way of testing. I asked them to power it up with me on the phone and listened for error beeps. Read the diagnostics part of the manual to the device whose price point you are interested in and if possible, walk the seller through the steps. You may find a diamond in the junk pile of used pcrs. I recommend these devices out of personal experience. There are many others out there but these models in particular I either own or have played with/repaired in the past.

Best of luck to you!

Sebastian S. Cocioba
CEO & Founder
New York Botanics, LLC
Plant Biotech R&D