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I actually have one the the Panasonic microwaves whispered about at the end of the article, and it's been the best microwave I've ever owned. "Panasonic NNSC688

I actually have one the the Panasonic microwaves whispered about at the end of the article, and it's been the best microwave I've ever owned. "Panasonic NNSC688S Mid-Size 1200W Inverter Microwave Oven, 1.3 Cuft, Black Stainless Steel" which Amazon sells for CAD$300, although I see one used is available for $180 - a steal, IMHO. The key word in the description is "inverter". I am very much in the pro-inverter camp. In an inverter microwave, power is supplied through an inverter circuit to supply a steady and constant amount of power throughout the cooking time without cutting in and out. So if you select 50% power, the microwave will deliver 50% power throughout. Inverter microwaves are also more energy efficient than standard microwaves.

tzs 3y ago
I've also got one, although mine is the larger NN-SN946W model. It has had one odd behavior that has me quite puzzled. I was regularly having for breakfast a microwaved frozen breakfast sandwich and a couple hash browns cooked in a toaster. The hash browns took 10 minutes, and the breakfast sandwich 1 minute. I'd program the microwave for a 9 minute timer stage, followed by a 1 minute cooking stage, and then start the microwave and drop the hash browns in the toaster. I could then go do other stuff and when I heard the microwave beep I'd know it was time to go take the hash browns out of the toaster. This worked great for weeks, then one morning the microwave would not start. Some experimenting showed that it would still start as long as the first stage was not a timer stage of a multi-stage program was not a timer stage. E.g., cook stage + timer stage was fine. Cook + timer + cook was also fine, so it wasn't that timer stages could not precede cook stages. Timer only was fine, too. This is not an internet-connected device, so it wasn't some sort of stealth firmware update. Reset didn't help, and neither did unplugging it overnight. It was this way for a couple days (as a work around I'd do 1 second cook + 9 minute timer + 1 minute cook)...and then it started working normally again and has continued working normally ever since (about two years since the glitch). I can't even come up with a reasonably hypothesis to explain this.
- peteforde 3y ago
  First: kudos for RTFM and learning that you could batch operations. Honestly, you might have inspired me to do it, too. Isn't it funny that a microwave with a local wifi network and the ability to run JS/Lua/whatever scripts would be exponentially more useful than "smart" features? I agree, what you are describing is thoroughly bizarre. When you say that it wouldn't start, do you mean that it wouldn't let you hit the start button at all, or that the timer would run out and then nothing would happen? The only thing I can think to ask from a debugging perspective is whether there's someone in your home who was using a mode last thing before bed that would have set it in an uncertain state? Heck, even the moisture sensor, or whether someone opens the door on the last second of a cook before a beep could leave some register in an uncertain state.
  - tzs 3y ago
    It wouldn't do anything when I pressed the start button. It didn't even do the normal beep that normally occurs to acknowledge button pressed. There's no one else in the house (that I know of...).
- rrr_oh_man 3y ago
  What... is a "frozen breakfast sandwich"? I googled it and it looks like... a regular sandwich that needs to be put in the oven for some reason?
  - SAI_Peregrinus 3y ago
    A "breakfast sandwich" is usually a food item containing eggs (pre-cooked, scrambled or fried), cheese, two slices of bread, and possibly sausage or bacon. The other ingredients are placed between the slices of bread, often this bread is some sort of roll but it may also be a pastry like a croissant. Miscellaneous foods placed between two slices of bread is known as a "sandwich", and the first meal of the day is known as "breakfast". So a "breakfast sandwich" is a sandwich containing foods typically eaten at the first meal of the day! A "frozen" food is one that has been frozen, usually sold from the "frozen foods" aisle of a grocery store. Sometimes people will prepare meals in advance and then freeze them for storage. These items must be "defrosted" before eating, usually also heated to a desired temperature. This takes substantially less time than making the meal from scratch. A "frozen breakfast sandwich" is a "breakfast sandwich" which has been pre-prepared, and then frozen. That saves the eater time & effort in the morning, since they only have to heat up the sandwich before eating, not go through the whole process of frying the egg, cooking the bacon, assembling it into a sandwich, & heating that. Even if the eater is also the preparer, it still saves time in the morning (at the expense of preparation time on a different day). For people who don't like getting up early or with long commutes, having pre-prepared frozen breakfast sandwiches can be a significant benefit.
    - peteforde 3y ago
      I love it when people react to convenience foods a) as though they have no idea what you're talking about b) that you're just lazy because you don't just do 27 steps in 3 three minutes with ingredients that cost more and expire quickly if you're single while dirtying 3-4 bowls and pans and c) as though you aren't well aware that it's probably not the best for you, if you eat them every day.
WWLink 3y ago
I also have a Panasonic Microwave, in my case I went with the 2.2 cubic feet NN-SE982S. It replaced an older 2.2 that died after about 6 years of heavy usage lol. I LOVE those machines. The inverter is great because it doesn't make the lights dim periodically lol.
starky 3y ago
I have another version of the same model (NNSC669S) and while I think it was one of the best options available today, I hate it compared to the old Sharp microwave (with a MFR date of 1994!) I had before. I just hate interacting with it, the buttons are difficult to push and the way it makes you enter in things is backwards to what makes sense. I'm not entirely convinced about the longevity either, the turntable of the first one I received was DOA and I had to get it replaced.

tzs 3y ago

I've also got one, although mine is the larger NN-SN946W model. It has had one odd behavior that has me quite puzzled. I was regularly having for breakfast a microwaved frozen breakfast sandwich and a couple hash browns cooked in a toaster. The hash browns took 10 minutes, and the breakfast sandwich 1 minute. I'd program the microwave for a 9 minute timer stage, followed by a 1 minute cooking stage, and then start the microwave and drop the hash browns in the toaster. I could then go do other stuff and when I heard the microwave beep I'd know it was time to go take the hash browns out of the toaster. This worked great for weeks, then one morning the microwave would not start. Some experimenting showed that it would still start as long as the first stage was not a timer stage of a multi-stage program was not a timer stage. E.g., cook stage + timer stage was fine. Cook + timer + cook was also fine, so it wasn't that timer stages could not precede cook stages. Timer only was fine, too. This is not an internet-connected device, so it wasn't some sort of stealth firmware update. Reset didn't help, and neither did unplugging it overnight. It was this way for a couple days (as a work around I'd do 1 second cook + 9 minute timer + 1 minute cook)...and then it started working normally again and has continued working normally ever since (about two years since the glitch). I can't even come up with a reasonably hypothesis to explain this.

peteforde 3y ago
First: kudos for RTFM and learning that you could batch operations. Honestly, you might have inspired me to do it, too. Isn't it funny that a microwave with a local wifi network and the ability to run JS/Lua/whatever scripts would be exponentially more useful than "smart" features? I agree, what you are describing is thoroughly bizarre. When you say that it wouldn't start, do you mean that it wouldn't let you hit the start button at all, or that the timer would run out and then nothing would happen? The only thing I can think to ask from a debugging perspective is whether there's someone in your home who was using a mode last thing before bed that would have set it in an uncertain state? Heck, even the moisture sensor, or whether someone opens the door on the last second of a cook before a beep could leave some register in an uncertain state.
- tzs 3y ago
  It wouldn't do anything when I pressed the start button. It didn't even do the normal beep that normally occurs to acknowledge button pressed. There's no one else in the house (that I know of...).
rrr_oh_man 3y ago
What... is a "frozen breakfast sandwich"? I googled it and it looks like... a regular sandwich that needs to be put in the oven for some reason?
- SAI_Peregrinus 3y ago
  A "breakfast sandwich" is usually a food item containing eggs (pre-cooked, scrambled or fried), cheese, two slices of bread, and possibly sausage or bacon. The other ingredients are placed between the slices of bread, often this bread is some sort of roll but it may also be a pastry like a croissant. Miscellaneous foods placed between two slices of bread is known as a "sandwich", and the first meal of the day is known as "breakfast". So a "breakfast sandwich" is a sandwich containing foods typically eaten at the first meal of the day! A "frozen" food is one that has been frozen, usually sold from the "frozen foods" aisle of a grocery store. Sometimes people will prepare meals in advance and then freeze them for storage. These items must be "defrosted" before eating, usually also heated to a desired temperature. This takes substantially less time than making the meal from scratch. A "frozen breakfast sandwich" is a "breakfast sandwich" which has been pre-prepared, and then frozen. That saves the eater time & effort in the morning, since they only have to heat up the sandwich before eating, not go through the whole process of frying the egg, cooking the bacon, assembling it into a sandwich, & heating that. Even if the eater is also the preparer, it still saves time in the morning (at the expense of preparation time on a different day). For people who don't like getting up early or with long commutes, having pre-prepared frozen breakfast sandwiches can be a significant benefit.
  - peteforde 3y ago
    I love it when people react to convenience foods a) as though they have no idea what you're talking about b) that you're just lazy because you don't just do 27 steps in 3 three minutes with ingredients that cost more and expire quickly if you're single while dirtying 3-4 bowls and pans and c) as though you aren't well aware that it's probably not the best for you, if you eat them every day.

WWLink 3y ago

I also have a Panasonic Microwave, in my case I went with the 2.2 cubic feet NN-SE982S. It replaced an older 2.2 that died after about 6 years of heavy usage lol. I LOVE those machines. The inverter is great because it doesn't make the lights dim periodically lol.

starky 3y ago

I have another version of the same model (NNSC669S) and while I think it was one of the best options available today, I hate it compared to the old Sharp microwave (with a MFR date of 1994!) I had before. I just hate interacting with it, the buttons are difficult to push and the way it makes you enter in things is backwards to what makes sense. I'm not entirely convinced about the longevity either, the turntable of the first one I received was DOA and I had to get it replaced.