Why every microwave sucks these days • Hacker News Board

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#301

Post by kenmacd » Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 1:11 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #240

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…

Buy a Panasonic. They seem to care about user experience. Beeps once, +30 starts it, and they're the only one with an inverter, so you can do a true 50% (unless I'm in a huge hurry I always cook at 50% for double the time, and it seems to come out much better).

I have an LG that's an inverter one. I agree though, don't buy a non-inverter model if you care at all about the quality of what comes out of it.

And for the above poster, +30 starts it, it plays a little tune when done, and then every maybe 30s afterwards for 2 or 3 times. Oh, and the turntable rotates at 0.1Hz so a mug's handle is facing the same way it went in after any interval of ten seconds.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#302

Post by jghn » Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 1:11 PM UTC

lb1lf wrote: post #158

pcl wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. I used to have a microwave and oven stacked on top of each other. Both had an LCD, and so some horrible PMs somewhere presumably had entire sets of meetings to spec out the clock feature. The microwave would not function if the time and AM/PM values were not set. (As far as I could tell, there was no way to actually ever see the AM/PM value after setting it!) So. Every time the power went out, I would be c…

My Siemens oven wanted an Internet connection on first power up. I fired off an E-mail to Siemens, stating that there was ONE feature which could tempt me into granting it access: NTP support. Much to my surprise, I got an enthusiastic reply from an engineer stating that this would be rolled out in a future firmware update. Fingers crossed.

A while back I got an Amazon branded microwave w/ Alexa integration. I bought it because it was one of the few I could find in the form factor I wanted, and used the novelty factor to break the tie. The voice activation is useless, but the one thing I love about it is that when the power blinks out it'll get the time from the nearby Alexa & set itself. No more blinking.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#303

Post by crazygringo » Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 1:13 PM UTC

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…

In case it helps, I've run into the same types of problems frequently, and YouTube reviews are a godsend.

Random people actually film themselves unboxing and using the product, and you can watch what buttons they have to press, etc.

Also you can virtually always download the manual as a PDF.

Of course that's not a list, and it takes a lot of work. It's deeply unfortunate -- somebody like Amazon could actually implement the kind of comparison matrix you're talking about, but they're not exactly innovating on the UX front. :(

(Amazon does sometimes show a comparison matrix of 4 products with something like ~6 rows of features for some products, but I think it's created by the manufacturer, so only compares models for that one brand, and doesn't always list the feature you care about either.)

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#304

Post by jannyfer » Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 1:14 PM UTC

teo_zero wrote: post #195

I wonder how much the author has traveled abroad, because when TFA mentions "the world", I don't recognize what I see here where I live: I've never found a pocorn button, for example, or moisture sensors, not even in the good old times. And Instant Pot is completely unknown, Covid notwithstanding.

https://moth.monster/about/

A 21-year-old from Baltimore.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#305

Post by trimethylpurine » Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 1:14 PM UTC

foul wrote: post #243

trimethylpurine wrote: post #210

You've done what looks to be a sincere job of blaming capitalism while complaining about a manufacturing monopoly hosted by a self proclaimed communist party. That is to say, for me, your example paints a dark picture of communism being weaponized against capitalism through the exploitation of well meaning globalist agenda. Trust in good foreign relations, in this example, has allowed a foreign bad actor to skirt aro…

Naivety is an aspect of economics when the globalization/dropshipping dynamics comes at play. For a lot of Western brands it's cash in, cash out, just some worries about sales-related personnel and maybe (not in this domain) some R&D. Unless you want to treat stories like Amazon and its sellers or rise of brands like Xiaomi/Mi as a cost optimization, in that case you're right that naivety goes entirely out of the fie…

I may have missed the meaning. Are you saying that the fact of foreign relations is inherently economic? Any economic system would be just as vulnerable if foreign trade is allowed to exploit extra judicial privileges. Imagine a communist economy where workers determined to make a product are undermined by the incentive of trading raw materials to a foreign company for personal gain. Foreign trade in this example, much like the microwave monopoly, is outside of judicial reach. It doesn't have to be. But it's not a problem that would be solved by switching to a new economic system. It's absolutely something to solve through legislation. So, for this microwave monopoly, it doesn't make sense to blame capitalism, as best I can tell.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#306

Post by jotato » Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 1:15 PM UTC

fbdab103 wrote: post #100

jotato wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> does it beed every +30 seconds No joke, I bought and returned 4 microwaves before I found one that doesn't. I'm picky, and finally found one that does a quick double "beeep beeep" and is done.

Well don't leave the crowd in suspense.

It's a GE. That's all I know :/

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#307

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 1:17 PM UTC

xk_id wrote: post #260

rsync wrote: post #90

We have a Panasonic NE-1258R. It's a commercial kitchen microwave oven and is built like a tank. It requires a 20amp circuit and it has no turntable because it has two magnetrons . https://www.manualslib.com/products/Panasonic-Ne1258r-Commer... Recommended.

As usual, the industrial-grade stuff is the only stuff that is actually worth having; while the whole entire consumer market is by and large a rip-off and a scam. Not just for microwaves. Also food ingredients, cosmetics, drugs, electronics. The problem is that business-to-business suppliers are harder to find and contact, they rarely engage with private individuals and often they are even restricted by the governmen…

[deleted]

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#308

Post by tim333 » Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 1:21 PM UTC

People say this - you can't buy a microwave without all the flashing annoying junk but you can. In the UK for example Argos has this https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8999247

no electronic junk, 4.8/5 reviews. But people seem to want to buy the annoing computers stuck in there versions.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#309

Post by aembleton » Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 1:21 PM UTC

smaudet wrote: post #208

eduction wrote: post #68

This is like a textbook example of Louis CK’s adage “everything is amazing and nobody’s happy.” Microwaves are great. Amazon will have a Farberware or RCA for $70 to my home in two days - including shipping! What exactly is the problem? No one has ever used them to do anything other than heat things up. I was a child of the 80s. No one ever used these supposed features the post complains are disappearing. Instant Pot…

I don't think you read the article and are probably new at life, or just out of touch. Microwaves should last for decades, this is the same type of thing that you may have heard your parents complain about "I had a can opener that I got from my mother and it just broke, the five new ones I bought same price all broke within a year". There is really nothing complex about one. It's a timer connected to some voltage equ…

> every time you use it it fries its own cheap water based glue, and the thing falls apart every 6 months.

Which brand has this happened to for you? I've never seen this, but I've only ever had a supermarket own brand which will just be Midea and a Panasonic.

> but what matters is not all money

Then buy a commercial one which last longer and cost more.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#310

Post by crazygringo » Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 1:33 PM UTC

There's a big innovation I'm looking for in microwaves and I simply do not understand why nobody sells it yet:

An interior IR sensor/camera that will cycle/adjust power until my food is fully cooked to a certain temperature but not above it.

I don't want to pick a duration and I don't want to pick power levels and I don't want hot spots and I don't want to have to check the food every 30 seconds or 3 minutes or whatever it is. I just want to cook to a certain temperature, and avoid hot spots above that temperature.

So instead of fiddling with dumb things like 100% power for the first 2 minutes and then 10% power for another 8 minutes, I just want to reheat my chicken breast to 145°F or my salmon to 120°F or my soup to 165°F or my maple syrup to 180°F or my water for tea to 205°F. (Just examples, not looking to argue over temps!)

So let the microwave blast it full strength until there are hot spots, then cycle off to let hot spots spread their heat to the rest of the food, then blast more, until the whole food exterior is within a range of the desired temperature, then ding it's done!

And while it can't detect interior temperatures directly, you should be able to use the rate of exterior cooling during the off cycle to determine whether the interior has come up to temperature. E.g. the outside of a chicken breast with a still-frozen interior cools rapidly; the outside of a chicken breast with a hot interior stays hotter for longer.