Hi Mick,
I was approached about 6 months ago by GeneCodes. It took five months
before I "found time" to try the demo of Sequencher that he had sent me,
but once I'd tried it, boy was I impressed! The GUI and incredible speed
are the obvious advantages, but the price is pretty hefty.
Like you, I am still in two minds. I saw a thread in
news://bionet.software.gcg [Subj.: Re: GCG Substitutes] about alternative=
s
to GCG. Most of the thread has been deleted now, except the reponses to =
my
question about Sequencher which is basically the same as yours. You migh=
t
like to have a look.
I would be grateful for a concise summary of any responses (a posting wil=
l
be fine :-). I am still torn between Staden
(http://www.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/pubseq/) and Sequencher. Staden is a *lot*
cheaper at =A3100 for academic users (=A3300 with updates and support for=
th=3D
e
year). The cost includes all tools covering both DNA assembly and
DNA/protein analysis. Even better, the price is for a site licence, not
for a single copy!
Staden is, however, for UNIX. It will run on a Linux box, but not Linux =
on
a PowerPC (i.e. MkLinux or Linux/PPC on an IBM, Macintosh or BeBox for
example). I'm told they might be porting to Windoze soon, but personally=
,
if I settle for Staden, I will install it on a university UNIX box, then
let all of the users in my lab access it through an X Server (i.e.
X-Windows on a Win or MacOS platform). A free X server is available from
http://www.microimages.com/freestuf/mix/. You will need to install extra
X-fonts, in particular, helvetica!
I am still waiting to hear from GeneCodes, why their software is better...
I hope that this has been useful.
Andrew
In article <6n8vda$ldj at net.bio.net>, Dr Mick Jones <mjones at rpms.ac.uk> wr=
ote=3D
:
>Please could anybody give me some advice on which assembly package to
>purchase. Has anybody tried Sequencher? If so, any views? Are there any
>specific draw backs to it? Is there a better package?
--
Gene Technology Group
Institute of Transplantation Immunology
Rikshospitalet University of Oslo
Pilestredet 32, N-0027 Oslo, Norway
Office phone: +47 2286 8703
Dept. fax: +47 2220 3693
E-Mail: mailto:a.s.louka at embnet.uio.no
WWW: http://bioslave.uio.no/~andrewsl/
