MM suggestions for a new microwave?

als1982

When I bought my house, I swiped my brother's dorm microwave from my parents garage.  It was pretty old and gross, but I thought it'd work temporarily.  Well, I never replaced it and now seven years after moving in, it's bit the dust.  Any suggestions for replacing it?  Good stores to look?  Places that might have deals?  Features to look for or avoid?  For reference it's a countertop microwave.

csuave

Can you mount a microwave in your kitchen?  Those are great, it is nice to have it off the counter.
I don't have any suggestions for replacing.  They all seem to work fine to me.  Just make sure it is big enough for any large containers you might use. 

als1982

csuave said:

Can you mount a microwave in your kitchen?  Those are great, it is nice to have it off the counter.
I don't have any suggestions for replacing.  They all seem to work fine to me.  Just make sure it is big enough for any large containers you might use. 

Maybe, but I'm guessing that would eliminate the usefulness of the portion of the counter over which it hangs?  But I might look into it!

formerlyjessica490

I would just check Home Depot, Lowe's, BJ's/Costco, Best Buy....

You can also check Walmart or Target

I don't have a brand that I like but maybe a GE or Frigidaire...I mainly look to make sure it has all the buttons like I like and use (popcorn button, +30 second button etc)

hoffse

If you can mount it, definitely do that.  It will free up so much space.

I would look for one that has buttons on the doors.  It makes the interior wider, and you might be able to fit two plates in there side-by-side.  Ours does this, and it's a really nice feature.

Otherwise, most of them work just fine.

als1982

I think I'll have to swing by Nebraska Furniture Mart to check on different sizes.  With our current microwave, we have less than three to four inches between the microwave and the bottom of the cabinets, and with this little space, I think mounting might look funny.  If I can find something smaller, then mounting is a great suggestion!

smerka

I think most people are talking about mounting it over the stove top in place of the hood. 

als1982

smerka said:

I think most people are talking about mounting it over the stove top in place of the hood. 

Gotcha.  I'm not sure that I'm a fan of that look, plus due to the small size of our house, we use our over stove fan a LOT and I don't want to spend what it would cost to get a microwave with that.

julieanne912

We have a Frigidaire one, but well, it's a microwave.  It's fine.  It's built into the pantry cabinet next to the fridge.  The only function I wish it had, that I've had on others, is a butter softening feature.  It just softens the butter for baking, but doesn't melt it.

I would check at places like Best Buy for open box deals, I got a super nice LG microwave (which is how I learned about the butter thing haha) from one of those once.  Also scratch & dent places usually have cheap ones.

But, at least in my somewhat knowledgeable about house stuff opinion, a microwave is a microwave... most of them get the job done, unless you're using it as your primary means of cooking, then you'd probably want something nicer.  

als1982

julieanne912 said:

We have a Frigidaire one, but well, it's a microwave.  It's fine.  It's built into the pantry cabinet next to the fridge.  The only function I wish it had, that I've had on others, is a butter softening feature.  It just softens the butter for baking, but doesn't melt it.

I would check at places like Best Buy for open box deals, I got a super nice LG microwave (which is how I learned about the butter thing haha) from one of those once.  Also scratch & dent places usually have cheap ones.

But, at least in my somewhat knowledgeable about house stuff opinion, a microwave is a microwave... most of them get the job done, unless you're using it as your primary means of cooking, then you'd probably want something nicer.  

Good idea about the open box deals - thank you!!!

brij2006

We have loved all of our Samsung appliances and love our Samsung microwave.

Only feature I would make sure it has is the popcorn feature.  My old one from college didn't have that and I didn't realize how much I liked it.

Also, I didn't realize how much of a pain it would be but one that can fit larger items and/or bottles. 

brij2006

julieanne912 said:

We have a Frigidaire one, but well, it's a microwave.  It's fine.  It's built into the pantry cabinet next to the fridge.  The only function I wish it had, that I've had on others, is a butter softening feature.  It just softens the butter for baking, but doesn't melt it.

I would check at places like Best Buy for open box deals, I got a super nice LG microwave (which is how I learned about the butter thing haha) from one of those once.  Also scratch & dent places usually have cheap ones.

But, at least in my somewhat knowledgeable about house stuff opinion, a microwave is a microwave... most of them get the job done, unless you're using it as your primary means of cooking, then you'd probably want something nicer.  

Where has this been all my life? I could use that feature at least once a week.

short+sassy

csuave said:

Can you mount a microwave in your kitchen?  Those are great, it is nice to have it off the counter.
I don't have any suggestions for replacing.  They all seem to work fine to me.  Just make sure it is big enough for any large containers you might use. 

Personal preference, but I have never liked that idea.  I've never had a mounted microwave, but most of the ones I've seen are at about face level, maybe a little higher.  I just think that would be too high to use easily.  I am only 5'0", so maybe that isn't an issue for other people.

I got a good sized, powerful microwave at Walmart about 5 years ago that is still going strong.  I think it was $80-$90, but they have a lot of good options even less than that.  I'll check the brand/style of mine when I get home.

csuave

It is worth checking Craigslist.  I just did a quick search in my city and there were a lot listed.  I think it is an item people get rid of more frequently because they might move to a house that has one included, etc.

AprilZ81

als1982 said:

smerka said:

I think most people are talking about mounting it over the stove top in place of the hood. 

Gotcha.  I'm not sure that I'm a fan of that look, plus due to the small size of our house, we use our over stove fan a LOT and I don't want to spend what it would cost to get a microwave with that.

Is your stove fan vented to the outside?  If so they make microwaves that can vent to the outside so you still have the functionality of the fan but still get the microwave off the counter.

If your existing fan is NOT vented to the outside it is just recycling the air into the house anyway and microwave vents to the same thing if it isn't connected to ducting to the exterior.

cbee817

Congrats @AprilZ81- little girls are wonderful!

short+sassy

cbee817 said:

Congrats @AprilZ81- little girls are wonderful!

Oh!  I didn't notice your ticker, @AprilZ81.  Congrats, so sweet!

julieanne912

brij2006 said:

julieanne912 said:

We have a Frigidaire one, but well, it's a microwave.  It's fine.  It's built into the pantry cabinet next to the fridge.  The only function I wish it had, that I've had on others, is a butter softening feature.  It just softens the butter for baking, but doesn't melt it.

I would check at places like Best Buy for open box deals, I got a super nice LG microwave (which is how I learned about the butter thing haha) from one of those once.  Also scratch & dent places usually have cheap ones.

But, at least in my somewhat knowledgeable about house stuff opinion, a microwave is a microwave... most of them get the job done, unless you're using it as your primary means of cooking, then you'd probably want something nicer.  

Where has this been all my life? I could use that feature at least once a week.

Right?  I was so sad when our new one didn't have that feature LOL

blondie42107

We purchased an LG when our over the range micro went up on us a few years ago.  Still going strong - no problems!

abrewer5

We have a Whirlpool microwave that hangs over the stove and has the fan feature (doesn't vent outside). We got it as a house warming gift from FIL and I think it was around $200. Well worth it IMO to get a stainless steel one that is mounted versus on the counter. H and I are pretty minimalist thou and only keep three things on the counter.

It looked odd for almost a year because we couldn't afford to replace the rest of the appliances so we had a nice, new stainless steel microwave and 12 year old white appliances for everything else haha.

Xstatic3333

We always go pretty simple, but not too simple, on microwaves and have countertop models. We have always bought Sears Kenmore and been very happy. Ours (Model 73163) cost around $169 new and does everything we need reliably. H is a big electronics researcher and chose it for us. There are lower-cost models too, but we got a good sale price. It has popcorn, potato, and butter softening buttons but honestly I rarely use them. 

short+sassy

Ha!  I tried to reply to my own post (above), but it wouldn't let me.

This is the exact one I bought from Walmart 5 years ago.  It's decently sized at 1.1 cu ft. and has good power.  Currently priced at $95.  No butter softener feature, lol!  But it has a popcorn button and some of those other types of buttons.

Personally, I love this Pearl Silver color it comes in, but they also have it in black or white.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sharp-1.1-cu-ft-Microwave-Pearl-Silver/20564662

als1982

Thanks everyone for your advice!  I ended up just picking up an LG in the same size as we had before for less than $150.  Maybe it's because it's our most used appliance, but for some reason I thought it was going to be much more expensive - ha!