If someone subscribes to Consumers Report I would be interested in what they rate. Our GE 1.6 cf is 11 years old and still works, except the turntable no longer turns. I thought I would look to see what Black Friday specials might turn up. I didn't really see anything that caught my attention. Seems most these days are either in the 1.2 cf range or in the 2.0 cf range. So looks like we'd go for the smaller size. We only use it to heat or reheat stuff and don't do any real cooking in ours. What did catch my attention was some of poor rating talking about sparks, melted power cords, etc. Good Grief Charlie Brown have microwaves gotten worse and more dangerous.

 

 

Built in or counter-top Dave?

They are so cheap now it's hard to go wrong.
We had a couple of sharps that were ok. for 6-7 years anyways.
When we replaced the last one we went built in bosch microwave which is also a broiler, convection oven and did I mention expensive?

 

Depends on where it goes. We had a built in, with an aluminum grill trim set around it the thing set in our cabinet. When the original Panasonic blew up after 20 years, I discovered how much a trim panel set to fit the cabinet is. It is more than the microwave!
Needless to say I searched and found an exact fit (was another Panasonic) and that is what I got. Actually a nice microwave.

 

I realize they are not costly. It will likely be less than $200. We need a countertop. I should just go to Lowes or Best Buy and grab anything but the researcher in me won't allow that. Panasonic comes with lots of thumbs up based on a couple different so-called rating services.

 

I have a Bosch built-in. It's great. Not sure they make a countertop one.

 

I bought one for my pop-up camper a few years ago at WalMart for less than $50 (fifty bucks). Main criteria for our choice was it had a Popcorn button and a turntable. The Amana RadarRange I bought 30 years ago was still running when I left on the countertop when we moved last year at this time.

Oh, yeah, no listing of microwaves in this year's CU Buyers Guide.

-- Chuck

 

I was able to visit CR's online site. They list an LG #1 and Panasonic #2 & #3. The LG model I reviewed, 1.5cf, was available at Best Buy and has a 92% buy again rating. However, it has some kind of song it plays instead of a beep - which is clearly a love or hate issue and a lot hate it. You have to open the door each time to set the controls and it has no preset numbers, just a sliding scale that goes up 10 seconds at a time. It seems it really does a good job in even heating, etc. Shopping is a pain in the butt, I'll never understand how some people say they enjoy it!

 

My Sharp model R-4A48 (1996) is still going strong. Started out all white. Now has permanently stained hand & finger marks. If it were to die, I'd prolly first look for another Sharp.

 

We've got a Frigidaire microwave we picked up at Home Depot several years ago. It does exactly as advertised.

I don't put much faith in online reviews of any product, but that's just me. Rarely do people go back to place a genuine review if a product is good, and you can't always trust that the "bad" reviews are genuine either.

You got 11 years out of your GE, if you've been happy with it simply get a newer version of that.