The following comments were posted in the sci.chem.analytical newsgroup at www.deja.com on 11 August 1999:

Subject: Shimadzu Class VP HPLC software problems

We purchased a Shimadzu HPLC with PDA detector about 12 months ago running Class VP 5.02 software (recently upgraded to 5.03) under Windows 95. Unlike some reports I have read, we have found the hardware to be very reliable, easy to use and the results are reproducible. The Class VP software is a different story....

We are mainly experiencing illegal operation errors and page faults (in module inst.exe) when processing data in both online and offline modes. These have become so frequent at the moment I can crash the software in under 2 minutes, and can only process one run without crashing! Needless to say, after an overnight run, it takes a long time to process the data. Over the past 6 months, the computer motherboard and CPU have been changed, the video card has been changed and new memory installed. The computer has also been reformatted (Fdisk then format) and the software re-installed without improving the problem. The computer was replaced at one stage with a Dell 350 Pentium II which did appear to reduce the problem but not solve it.

My questions are: Has anyone else suffered similar problems? Any ideas as to the cause? Would running under Windows NT 4.0 improve the situation (or make it worse)?

....As users of this instrument would appreciate, I'm not even touching 'the joys' of using the software such as it's inconsistent user interface and 'context insensitive' features. That's another story!


Regards,

anderton@pipeline.com.au


The following response was posted in the sci.chem.analytical newsgroup at www.deja.com:

I have had similar problems with the Shimadzu software. We also experienced a lot of "inst.exe access violation" errors when the software was first installed. The crashes only appeared in the offline mode which was used for data processing.... Of course, the annoying non-fatal bugs are still there.... (Posted 12 August 1999)


The following response was posted in the LC Chromatography Forum at www.lcgcmag.com:

We had similar problems with Class VP software in connection with the PDA detector. We solved it by installing Windows NT 4.0 (there are still minor problems but we can live with them). (Posted 16 August 1999)


The following response was posted in the St. Louis Chromatography Discussion Forum at www.stlcdg.org:

I feel your pain! We bought a Shimadzu SPD-M6A photo diode array detector coupled to Shimadzu EZChrom back in '94 here at A. L. Pharma Labs in Baltimore, MD. It never worked right even after being investigated by their tech support group.

Then the salesman (Terry L. Adams) wanted us to buy another upgraded SPD-M10A detector.... we didn't! All of this is terribly disconcerting to read. One would think that after 5 long years that Shimadzu might finally get it right.... WRONG! The situation is amazing! After reading the above account and knowing of our own situation with this 'inferior product offering,' you have to wonder *out loud* if Shimadzu will ever get it right? You also have to wonder how many other unfortunate souls have plunked down money only to be rewarded with a non-performing product.

Where does it end Shimadzu? Can you people do anything right? Can you solve or does Shimadzu create endless problems? How many dissatisfied customers have to go public before you people see the light? Oh.... the light! Don't know what that is??? I GIVE UP!!! (Posted 20 August 1999)


The following response was posted in the LC Chromatography Forum at www.lcgcmag.com:

We too have had problems with Shimadzu PDA software. After a lot of wasted time (and useless tech support), we managed to correct the problem. Not too sure about the VP software but if you check for a file called error log (usually a *.txt file), this may shed some light on what exactly the illegal operation is. This file should also give you a vague solution to the specific error. (Posted 26 August 1999)

n.b. As we noted previously, when you read messages like this, what else is there to add? No need to pile on after reading a bevy of horrifying customer reports like this.... and you can bet that there are many more! If you would be foolish enough to order this problem-plagued product, then you deserve the trouble that is bound to accompany your Shimadzu purchase. Do you think that all is well at Shimadzu? Is there a chance in hell that it will get better any time soon.... don't count on that happening in your lifetime!

n.b. Do you think this matter of incompatible software (EZChrom, Class VP) and hardware (SPD-M6A, SPD-M10A photo diode array detectors) is worthy of a lawsuit? Can you say "class-action" lawsuit? For five years (and maybe longer), Shimadzu has done little or nothing to fix these pervasive problems! And after all this time, one would think that Shimadzu might finally get it right. Apparently, they have no incentive to make things better. But you can bet a class-action lawsuit against Shimadzu and maybe Scientific Software might change that! If interested, please forward an email with Shimadzu Class VP/PDA class action lawsuit in the subject line to: shimadzu-sux@bigfoot.com. We'll let you know what happens!