I've seen recommends here for Sharp, and I had an ancient Amana for years that I eventually got sick of moving (it was big and HEAVY) but still worked.
Any other brands worth considering?
The current nuker has started putting out a distinct burning electronics smell when using, so I'm not real nuts about keeping it around.
nate
I read that Sharp makes something like 75% of all microwaves, no matter the brand on the housing. At work we have a $69 GE from Wal-Mart and it works well. Depends on how fancy you want to get and what features you really use.
We have a Kenmore, Model #721-63252301, about $125. The feature that attracted me was the rounded back inside cabinet, which is a cinch to clean. It defrosts frozen meat and softens a stick of butter perfectly, with no hot spots at all. I love it. Has a one minute button, hit it as many times as you wish for minutes at full power. Has special defrost button for entrees and button for popcorn, which I haven't tried.
Our Panosonic is 20 some years old and working flawlessly. I'd be real tempted to buy another one if and when this one fails. It was not cheap but it's been worth every penny.
We have a Panasonic about 10 years old, been flawless.
I like my Panasonic Inverter. 1300 w.
Steve
The only one I would avoid would be Panasonic (or any matsuSHITa brand). I have a basic Sharp unit in my kitchen that works well, I also have a tiny little GE branded unit that I put in my camper which also works well.
My mother has a Sanyo microwave that is I believe around 25 years old and still going strong.
I have the same...only querk, green display is too dim. I have many other Panasonics with no problems: digi-cam, digi- camcorder,VHS,BluRay player. If you buy GE, Hotpoint, or Kenmore (at least in the past) you would be buying a Samsung. (good product IMHO)
bob
I have the same...only querk, green display is too dim. I have many other Panasonics with no problems: digi-cam, digi- camcorder,VHS,BluRay player. If you buy GE, Hotpoint, or Kenmore (at least in the past) you would be buying a Samsung. (good product IMHO)
bob
So, I guess the best answer is just to buy a brand name, and not one of the $59 cheepos.
Steve
I'd also avoid Kitchen-Aid. We figured with their reputation for quality that it was worth the incrementally higher price compared to competitive models with the same specs and features. About 9 months later, while it was still under warranty, it died. Acted as if it had been unplugged. I called the customer service number and they said I needed to ship it to their repair facility - at my expense (nothing near me I could drive to.) The original box it came in must have come off a large shrink wrapped pallet because it was much too flimsy to use for shipping. Even without shipping materials, it weighed about 33 lbs. I figured the cost of purchasing a sturdy container plus shipping and insurance would have been more than 1/2 the purchase price, making the warranty effectively worthless. I opened it up and noted that the instrument fuse on the electronic control panel had blown. Nothing appeared to be overheated (no melted insulation, discolorations or burnt odors. Replaced the fuse and we were back in business for about 10 days. Then the same thing happened. Trashed the thing and have been doing just fine with a cheapo Emerson I bought at the store with the red bull's eye logo.
Kitchenaid counter top appliances One Year warranty is simple: Send them the old one and they send you a new one. They even take care of the shipping arrangements for returning the old unit.
Oh, yeah... The replacement comes with a FRESH one year warrantee. They really don't have to do that, but they do.
Our home (2001) came with a GE Profile microwave over the range. In 2004, the turntable stopped turning and I had to replace the gear motor. It was a $30 part, and quite accessible from underneath. The replacement motor died again a few weeks back. Again, the $30 new gearmotor did the trick. In both instances, it was the plastic gears that wore and broke. It's just a FWIW.
Glad you had that experience. As I noted above, I definitely did not!
Here it is on their website for all to see:
In news: snipped-for-privacy@news2.newsguy.com, Nate Nagel spewed forth:
I've had excellent lick with our Whirlpool Gold Series micro/convection oven. I recommend the micro convection if you can afford the extra cost
Sharp / GE. The both make cut-rate models but have some nice middle of the road models. I have a Warm and Toast sharp carosel that doubles as a convect/toaster oven and an 1100 watt GE. Both are 5 years old now and get used daily without problems. The GE will pop a 3.5oz popcorn bag in a lot less time than the popcorn button runs for so you have to be carefull.
That's new and wasn't the warranty I received when I purchased my lemon. I bet they had lots of complaints (I know they had mine) and must have decided that if they wanted to maintain their reputation, they needed to beef up their warranty.
In article , snipped-for-privacy@netzero.com (Peter) writes: | On 2/22/2010 12:22 AM, Pete C. wrote: | >
| > Nate Nagel wrote: | >>
| >> I've seen recommends here for Sharp, and I had an ancient Amana for | >> years that I eventually got sick of moving (it was big and HEAVY) but | >> still worked. | >>
| >> Any other brands worth considering? | >>
| >> The current nuker has started putting out a distinct burning electronics | >> smell when using, so I'm not real nuts about keeping it around. | >
| > The only one I would avoid would be Panasonic (or any matsuSHITa brand). | > I have a basic Sharp unit in my kitchen that works well, I also have a | > tiny little GE branded unit that I put in my camper which also works | > well. | I'd also avoid Kitchen-Aid. We figured with their reputation for quality that | it was worth the incrementally higher price compared to competitive models with | the same specs and features. About 9 months later, while it was still under | warranty, it died. Acted as if it had been unplugged. I called the customer | service number and they said I needed to ship it to their repair facility - at | my expense (nothing near me I could drive to.) The original box it came in must | have come off a large shrink wrapped pallet because it was much too flimsy to | use for shipping. Even without shipping materials, it weighed about 33 lbs. I | figured the cost of purchasing a sturdy container plus shipping and insurance | would have been more than 1/2 the purchase price, making the warranty | effectively worthless.
I had a similar experience with a Cuisinart microwave that failed within the warranty period. Not only would I have to pay for return shipping but I was supposed to enclose a payment for them to ship it back to me. Even if I had been within driving range of the repair facility they would not let me drop it off. They explicitly said that the original box was not suitable for shipping.
Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com
Yes, I'm sure they completely changed the way they do business based on your advice!
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