ABSTRACT
Early in the history of mass spectrometry, instruments were built by individual scientists and often could not be used or understood by anyone but the inventor. Now, very few scientists build their own mass spectrometers, and many commercial types are available. Although commercial mass spectrometers can be adapted to specialized needs, in most cases they are used by people who want fast, accurate answers to a wide range of questions, such as, “Is this painting genuinely old or is it a modern fake?” or “Was this horse doped when it won the race?” or “What is the structure of this new protein?” These questions can be broadly classified under the heading of analysis, a topic that embraces most uses of commercial mass spectrometers. Given this wide usage and the range of mass spectrometers that are commercially available, it can be difficult to choose the right instrument. This chapter reviews some of the factors that should be considered in selecting a mass spectrometer system. Of course, any decision is likely to be a compromise between what is desirable and what is available within a given price range.
