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At least microwaves with digital controls actually have full numpads. Every digital-control oven I've ever had the misfortune of using only has increment/decre

At least microwaves with digital controls actually have full numpads. Every digital-control oven I've ever had the misfortune of using only has increment/decrement buttons. Want to set the oven to 450F? Have fun pressing the increment button twenty times for five degree increments starting at 350F. It's an abomination.

icelancer 6y ago
This is such a weird thing that we accept as normal. Completely agree it's absurd that on the microwave we have a numpad and on an oven we have up/down arrows with an arbitrary starting point (mine is 350 degF).
- netsharc 6y ago
  350 degF might not be so arbritarily chosen, it's probably a good starting point, then the user would only have to press down or up a few times to reach the cooking temperature they want for their food.
- ckolkey 6y ago
  I'm on my phone, so it's a bit difficult to look up, but 350 isn't actually arbitrary. It's a temperature that is hot enough to allow you to get a maliard reaction without being so hot that you easily burn food.
frosted-flakes 6y ago
The best microwave I've ever used didn't have any numpad at all. Instead, it has a horizontal sliding touch pad. It sounds stupid, but it works SO WELL. Move your finger slowly and it increments one second at a time, move it quickly and it jumps faster. On the front there are only two buttons (stop/clear and start/+30sec) and the touch slider and screen. If you open the door there are a few more buttons for setting power levels and a timer, and the only useful preset button (popcorn), but none of the useless ones. This LG NeoChef model: https://www.lg.com/ca_en/microwave-ovens/lg-LMC1575BD https://www.lg.com/ca_en/microwave-ovens/lg-LMC1575BD
- zwayhowder 6y ago
  Just got one of these, and after an initial learning curve agree it is super intuitive (now) and works really well.
tssva 6y ago
Every digital control oven I have ever used continued to increment or decrement as long as you held the appropriate button down. No need to press the button twenty times. Some of them even increased the rate of increase/decrease the longer you held the button down.
- smaudet 6y ago
  Yes, but that's nowhere near as simple nor effective as a turn dial. This is just another example of the brain-dead designers and coders running around ruining the world. It sounds extreme to say, but I suspect quite a few of them have blood and misery on their hands, because some poorly designed control cascaded in effect and caused a catastrophe elsewhere. It's easier to imagine with medical equipment than microwaves, but its still putting someone's desire to write fancy control algorithms over a simpler more effective design. Start out by punching any jackass insisting everything be digital, you will go a long way to solving the problem of bad designers.
auxym 6y ago
Oh yeah and the button will probably give out after 3 years, at which point you have to replace the entire "timer" (control panel PCB), which is about half the price of the oven.
zbrozek 6y ago
My oven has a numpad. I punch in the temperature I want. It's great! GE Profile dual oven circa 2000.
Polylactic_acid 6y ago
My oven has a rotary encoder on it for temp adjustment. It works pretty well.
Smoosh 6y ago
I selected our oven specifically because of the sensible analogue controls (large knobs) for selecting the function and temperature. https://www.fisherpaykel.com/au/cooking/ovens/contemporary-ovens/oven-60cm-11-function-self-cleaning-ob60sd11px1-81572.html https://www.fisherpaykel.com/au/cooking/ovens/contemporary-o...

icelancer 6y ago

This is such a weird thing that we accept as normal. Completely agree it's absurd that on the microwave we have a numpad and on an oven we have up/down arrows with an arbitrary starting point (mine is 350 degF).

netsharc 6y ago
350 degF might not be so arbritarily chosen, it's probably a good starting point, then the user would only have to press down or up a few times to reach the cooking temperature they want for their food.
ckolkey 6y ago
I'm on my phone, so it's a bit difficult to look up, but 350 isn't actually arbitrary. It's a temperature that is hot enough to allow you to get a maliard reaction without being so hot that you easily burn food.

frosted-flakes 6y ago

The best microwave I've ever used didn't have any numpad at all. Instead, it has a horizontal sliding touch pad. It sounds stupid, but it works SO WELL. Move your finger slowly and it increments one second at a time, move it quickly and it jumps faster. On the front there are only two buttons (stop/clear and start/+30sec) and the touch slider and screen. If you open the door there are a few more buttons for setting power levels and a timer, and the only useful preset button (popcorn), but none of the useless ones. This LG NeoChef model: https://www.lg.com/ca_en/microwave-ovens/lg-LMC1575BD https://www.lg.com/ca_en/microwave-ovens/lg-LMC1575BD

zwayhowder 6y ago
Just got one of these, and after an initial learning curve agree it is super intuitive (now) and works really well.

tssva 6y ago

Every digital control oven I have ever used continued to increment or decrement as long as you held the appropriate button down. No need to press the button twenty times. Some of them even increased the rate of increase/decrease the longer you held the button down.

smaudet 6y ago
Yes, but that's nowhere near as simple nor effective as a turn dial. This is just another example of the brain-dead designers and coders running around ruining the world. It sounds extreme to say, but I suspect quite a few of them have blood and misery on their hands, because some poorly designed control cascaded in effect and caused a catastrophe elsewhere. It's easier to imagine with medical equipment than microwaves, but its still putting someone's desire to write fancy control algorithms over a simpler more effective design. Start out by punching any jackass insisting everything be digital, you will go a long way to solving the problem of bad designers.

auxym 6y ago

Oh yeah and the button will probably give out after 3 years, at which point you have to replace the entire "timer" (control panel PCB), which is about half the price of the oven.

zbrozek 6y ago

My oven has a numpad. I punch in the temperature I want. It's great! GE Profile dual oven circa 2000.

Polylactic_acid 6y ago

My oven has a rotary encoder on it for temp adjustment. It works pretty well.

Smoosh 6y ago

I selected our oven specifically because of the sensible analogue controls (large knobs) for selecting the function and temperature. https://www.fisherpaykel.com/au/cooking/ovens/contemporary-ovens/oven-60cm-11-function-self-cleaning-ob60sd11px1-81572.html https://www.fisherpaykel.com/au/cooking/ovens/contemporary-o...