The new aCOLade colony counter is a reliable, easy-to-use device for the rapid manual counting of colonies on any agar in petri dishes. The versatile design accepts plates from 60 - 150mm. A pressure sensor detects each count as the operator marks each colony with a pen and the LED readout displays the count. A "back" button allows for incorrect counts to be rejected. 
 
The unit is constructed using a ring-illuminator with electronic ballast resulting in a glare-free light, eliminating any operator eye strain. A simple slide-in background plate allows for the choice between having a black or white background to aid the counting of different plate types. An adjustable magnifying glass assists the counting of very small colonies. 
 
The aCOLade SYSW can be connected to a PC and using the supplied software "counts" are transferred automatically to a computer. This allows the operator to record and report the date for each plate complete with sample number, date, user name, dilution factor and total count minimising the risk of transcription errors.