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Why every microwave sucks these days

moth.monster

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Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#31

Post by 22c »

citizenkeen wrote: post #26
ForkMeOnTinder wrote: post #11

As a chronic comparison shopper, this is a first-world problem that's near and dear to my heart. I think the reason microwaves (and appliances in general) suck is because comparison shopping is so hard. I wish I could get a list of all microwaves and filter by criteria such as: - Does the +30 seconds button start cooking immediately, or do you have to also press "start" afterwards? - Does it beep every 30 seconds aft…

Literally all those things are discoverable if you buy in a store. Edit: I maybe should have clarified "appliance store", rather than big box. But there are three appliance stores within ten miles of me that sell appliances. Not Home Depot, not Wal-Mart. Appliance stores. The refrigerators and ovens and microwaves are all plugged in and you can try any of them. The only thing you can't try is the gas ranges. This is…

Are they? Perhaps I'm out of touch with the brick and mortar experience.

The majority of microwaves I've seen at my local department store are in a box, those few models that are on display are not powered.

Even in the highly unusual case that they were powered or within proximity of a free power socket, I think it'd be rather unorthodox to go to the store and test drive a microwave with your instant ramen.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#32

Post by dreamcompiler »

zbrozek wrote: post #5

I look forward to direct synthesis solid state microwave ovens. I want to actually get power control.

Inverter microwave ovens do PWM (which I guess doesn't sound as sexy as "Inverter"?) so you get much finer-grained power control than standard microwaves.

Still they don't give you direct wattage control, which perhaps is what you're asking for.

https://www.techlicious.com/review/microwave-ovens-with-inve...

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#34

Post by Boatfaceing »

harel wrote: post #30

As soon as you open the site in Chrome it complains that my browser is stalking me (I know and don't care) and that this site does not work with it. So I closed it. More annoying than my browser's stalking habits is the assumption that one knows best and can decide for others what they should be using. This is the first time I see something like that. Hope it's the last too.

[dead]

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#35

Post by sergiosgc »

ForkMeOnTinder wrote: post #11

As a chronic comparison shopper, this is a first-world problem that's near and dear to my heart. I think the reason microwaves (and appliances in general) suck is because comparison shopping is so hard. I wish I could get a list of all microwaves and filter by criteria such as: - Does the +30 seconds button start cooking immediately, or do you have to also press "start" afterwards? - Does it beep every 30 seconds aft…

I've done my research, on sale floors. The best I've come up with are Teka microwaves:

- Electronic, unfortunately. No time/power dials, in favor of a menu system from hell, but

- One button press to start (max power, 30s);

- After starting, there's a button to add 30s;

- It only beeps twice after finishing, then shuts up.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#36

Post by swader999 »

Waterluvian wrote: post #22
ForkMeOnTinder wrote: post #11

As a chronic comparison shopper, this is a first-world problem that's near and dear to my heart. I think the reason microwaves (and appliances in general) suck is because comparison shopping is so hard. I wish I could get a list of all microwaves and filter by criteria such as: - Does the +30 seconds button start cooking immediately, or do you have to also press "start" afterwards? - Does it beep every 30 seconds aft…

I just want a microwave with an analog dial for time and a switch for low, med, high. They can keep the computer.

Would purchase.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#37

Post by paranoidrobot »

da768 wrote: post #14

Got a Breville recently, seemed like the only units that weren't the same as every others out there... Not sure it's more durable, but at least it's super quiet, I can mute beep sounds, I can change time and power while food is cooking, and it's got a stainless interior so there's no cheap paint that'll start falling off after a few months.

Also got a Breville microwave, too the "combi-wave" one or something. Amazingly quiet.

I usually hate all device sounds, but surprisingly this has a reasonably quiet singular bell-like "ding" option, rather than the typical "beep-beep-beep" that drives me nuts.

The only thing that concerns me is the oven modes. It's got this plastic spinner piece that supports the glass turntable that I'm not sure about leaving in, and you can't use the metal tray in microwave mode.

So I just leave it in microwave mode all the time.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#38

Post by civilitty »

Waterluvian wrote: post #22
ForkMeOnTinder wrote: post #11

As a chronic comparison shopper, this is a first-world problem that's near and dear to my heart. I think the reason microwaves (and appliances in general) suck is because comparison shopping is so hard. I wish I could get a list of all microwaves and filter by criteria such as: - Does the +30 seconds button start cooking immediately, or do you have to also press "start" afterwards? - Does it beep every 30 seconds aft…

I just want a microwave with an analog dial for time and a switch for low, med, high. They can keep the computer.

I was looking for a microwave with two knobs a few years ago and finally found one.

Unfortunately it was one of the most expensive ones in the stores: https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/microwaves/bmo850.ht...

Biggest annoyance is that it's 1500W so any time I'm microwaving packaged food I have to scale down power to 70-80% to match the wattage on the package.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#39

Post by solardev »

ForkMeOnTinder wrote: post #11

As a chronic comparison shopper, this is a first-world problem that's near and dear to my heart. I think the reason microwaves (and appliances in general) suck is because comparison shopping is so hard. I wish I could get a list of all microwaves and filter by criteria such as: - Does the +30 seconds button start cooking immediately, or do you have to also press "start" afterwards? - Does it beep every 30 seconds aft…

I have similar UX desires and I typically have good luck looking up their manuals or just looking on reddit or whatever before I buy.

It's often some combination of holding down 1, 2, or 0 for a few seconds to change those modes.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#40

Post by solardev »

ericpauley wrote: post #10

The worst part about this article for me is that there is a reason for some people to buy new microwaves. Inverter microwaves (yes, these have been around a while) have become far more broadly available. This is a worthwhile upgrade for many users.

What do they do exactly? Just operate on a variable power level, without cycling on and off?
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