Microwave Ovens

[sweetheart]

I am looking for suggestions really for a good reliable microwave oven. Not too expensive please.

Maybe I am asking too much but my first microwave ( a Toshiba bought in

1985) lasted for nearly 20 years and now -......

I am tired of buying these things to find that in a little over a year something goes wrong and they stop working. I have bought cheap and cheerful from Asda and Morrison's ( own brand) and both lasted just over a year ( just out of guarantee). So I decided to buy a slightly more expensive one - first a Goodman's ( from Comet) and then a Sanyo. The Sanyo has lasted the longest but it seems there is something wrong with the door catch and its sporadic on working .

So I am looking for a new one ( again). I checked Which? and they are not particularly helpful. So if anyone has bought one that they could recommend I would be grateful.

[Tim Watts]

My old (2003 ish) Panasonic combi had nice controls as in you could program all manor of timed combinations. However, it used to take out the WIFI for half the house[1] and it blew up after about 5 years,

[1] It was not leaky around the door - I tested - I think it was the fancy "inverter" magnetron control spewed EM everywhere.

My current Samsung combi has remarkably stupid controls (eg cannot run fan over for more than 60 minutes a go) but does not affect WIFI at all and seems fine after 3 years.

[Broadback]

In my experience the ones with plastic interiors are useless. When I was looking it meant buying one with a grill built in, which I never use, it seemed the only way to get a metal interior. However the thing has lasted for many a moon.

[Graham.]

I've never seen a plastic cooking cavity, only painted steel ones, which are rubbish, and unpainted stainless steel ones that are far superior. Make sure you examine the interior before purchase as many described as stainless steel refer to the control escutcheon and not to the cavity.

[polygonum]

We got a Panasonic several years ago, and very happy except for one thing. Noise. The fan is incredibly loud and carries on for what seems like ages after cooking (sometimes, and if door is closed).

[meow2222]

Get an old one, then you know it lasts.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

I dunno. I always buy the cheapest with a clockwork timer and they seem reliable.

Like this

[Andrew Gabriel]

My first 1986 Hitachi one is still working fine, although it resides with another member of the family now.

My follow-on Sharp one is still OK at 12 years old - it's all stainless steel (inside and out), and includes a grill (not very useful) and fan/convection oven, which is mainly used for plate warming, but does get pressed into more serious service when it's my turn to host the family Christmas. The fan/convection oven function is not used for anything messy as unlike my main oven, it doesn't have self-cleaning oven liners, and would be a bugger to clean seriously burned food splatter off. The microwave function works well, and I use it with the grill sometimes too. The microwave is supposed to be 900W output, but in comparison with other microwaves I've used, I suspect it's output is probably lower than this.

Obviously, neither of these models still exist in the shops now, and longevity of these models really doesn't mean anything much with how today's models from these manufacturers might fare.

I have bought cheap microwaves for other people from time-to-time, and I don't recall any of them ever dying. Indeed, I recall getting rid of a few of these which still worked fine when folks have upgraded or been moving house.

[sweetheart]

Then maybe I have been unlucky or I just use them hard. Either way I have had three go wrong since 2005. At the price I suppose I cannot expect a lot but a little more than a year would be nice.

[sweetheart]

I suspect I know what you mean. They tend to rust quickly.

When I was

I wouldnt use the grill and so was thinking of an ordinary one . Surely with more in it, there is more to go wrong?

Thanks for that, I will.

[Brian Gaff]

The problem is like most stuff now, very few of the named manufacturers actually do mor than have them made with their name on. It really is a bit hit and miss. Being blind I have the Cobolt one which is not cheap but seems to be pretty rugged, but I suspect its based on a known chassis made in some Chinese factory.

Talking microwaves and combination ovens can be very irritating to the sighted!

I'd tend to look at the build quality of the door, hinge and catch and get one with a simple mechanical programmer as they don't blow up at every mains spike.

Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Hang on, they surely have to have a metal inside to contain the radio waves and reflect them around to cook the food.

Brian

[Brian Gaff]

The painted ones can be fine as long as the paint was put on correctly and exists just around the edges. If rust gets under the paint the end is near. I had a very old Philips one which went this way. the rod started at the door hinge which was at the bottom and of course the water tended to hang around there.

Brian

[Mr Pounder]

are the dog's bollocks.

>

[Tim+]

Our 1980 Toshiba is still going strong...

One of these

(not this one but identical to it)

Tim

[John Rumm]

Panasonic with a stainless interior....

[Dave Liquorice]

Our current microwave is painted steel the cavity is OK but the door is rusting... This is a little (size) Sharp R252 800W Cat E. I think we bought it to fit the space when we moved 12 years ago. Previously I had a larger (size) stainless steel cavity Sharp bought about 1985 that was still working into this centaury.

[John Rumm]

> They are the dog's bollocks.

Not convinced by their power figures though ;-)

[Graham.]

Likewise for our Plustron one pictured at the foot of this page.

[Graham.]

>>> They are the dog's bollocks.

As they output more power than they consume, they will soon solve all the world's energy problems.