Worth buying a decent microwave?

BUDFORCE

BUDFORCE

BUDFORCE

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I generally agree with "buy cheap buy twice" dishwashers etc, buy decent ones and they last and work out cheaper in the long run.

However in my experience it seems to not be the case for Microwaves.

I bought a decent Panasonic one in the last 10 years that didn't last, however my first ever Panasonic one lasted about 15 years and was actually still working other than the metal was starting to corrode.

I've also had cheap ones last a long time, the one I've got is easy 5+ years, probably 7 or 8 years, it's still working but the wheels on the spin plate are worn and it's making a horrible loud grinding noise.

So, if you were to buy a Microwave, cheap and cheerful or decent and made to last?
 
Bouton Aide said:
Buy one decent. Saves throwing away a microwave to landfill unless it gets recycled ofc.
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Yea but, if you buy an expensive one and it breaks, that still goes in landfill.

I apologise though, I guess my question should have been - in your experience, do expensive premium microwaves last longer than cheap ones.

Edit: Also because unlike most appliances, really in terms of functionality, a cheap microwave isn't really different to and expensive one, you put food in, turn it on, it heats it.

Okay I'm probably going to get some push back on this saying, yes but such and such microwave doesthis, but in my opinion, a microwave is a microwave, the only reason I'd buy a good one, is for it to last.
 
cheesyboy said:
My last somewhat expensive one fell to bits quicker than my current cheap one seems to be. The expensive one's pop-handle for the door broke, so we had to brute force it to open. Then, later, the whole thing just failed at about 4-5 years old. Current one is at least as old as that and fine - probably been used a lot more too, with my 10-year-old being home a lot (lockdown) and wanting jacket spuds for lunch.
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Exactly what happened to the Panasonic one I bought, I did pull it apart but the mechanism in the door lock was (mostly) plastic and the plastic had snapped, also becuase the door mechanism is linked to a kill switch so it turns off the microwave when you open the door, its actually somewhat complex, I did glue it back together, but that failed quite shortly after and there is quite literally no way that it could have been fixed, short of maybe 3D printing replacement plastic parts.

Bouton Aide said:
Get it fixed then or buy a cheap one and get it fixed if it breaks.
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As above, I do generally try to fix things if I can though.
 
See I double checked, the one I have now which I reckon is 7 - 8 years old is from Asda and was really cheap.

Rroff said:
We have a couple of basic Panasonic Inverters - they generally last a few years though seem to have some common faults - but last long enough. We had the same Panasonic ones years back and they lasted ages but then when they started having problems bought something far more expensive (will have to look up make/model) in between but they lasted less than 18 months before needing more spent on replacing parts to fix than just buying another Panasonic which has worked for 2-3 years so far.
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See this is exactly what I am trying to find out, as mentioned above, now your post, expensive microwaves not lasting.

I am thinking it might be a case of "buy expensive buy twice" or "buy cheap, get lucky" becuase I am not getting the impression that decent premium microwaves are lasting.

But obviously see what others also say, like I said, my first Panasonic Microwave lasted easy 15 years, but then that was going back probably 25 years when it was pruchased, I am not sure if manufacturing standards are the same, or maybe more recent Panasonic in partilcular (going by the posts in the thread anyway) are no good.
 
Bounce said:
Iv had microwaves cost £100 and they have lasted 15 years. It all depends on how often you use it, some people use it once a week other people use it twice daily.

Personally we use the microwave very rarely , most food tastes horrible which get microwaved, it tastes like rubber .
We tend to use either the hobb or oven or both.
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Yeah I use mine for mainly defrosting meat, I do cook frozen veg in it I think they turn out quite well, and I use it for reheating things.

But as you say, I dont actually do much "cooking" in it, saying that though it'll get used most days.
 
Been looking around online this evening.

Cannot find a flatbed manual microwave :(

Ideally would have a flatbed for ease of cleaning, but its not essential, however, and call me an old man I dont care, but I cannot stand microwaves with buttons on, if I have to press a button more than once to get the thing going I am already ****** off with it lol. Power and time, its all you need. I dont need the thing to tell me how long a bit of chicken will take to defrost.

Plus, anytime I have ever bothered to actually programme the thing properly, it never works anyway and ends up either still frozen or nuked beyond all recognition.
 
So inefficient, 2.2kw for 1.1kw output!!!!!!!!! Most loose about 500w.

I dunno, £300 is a lot of money for a Microwave..... It would fit the bill though and a 3 year warranty. I need that time machine to see if it'll last me 10+ years.
 
TheVoice said:
Manual microwaves need to be killed off, genuinely baffled they even still exist.
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I have no idea why you would want to ever program one, I know just from experience how long and what power something will need, I can "eyeball it" just fine. I can adjust things on the fly easy with a quick twist of a knob. Far easier and quicker. I guess not everyone has skills to use a manual one :)
 
WEnt for that Samsung semi commercial flatbed/manual in the end.

Been using it a few days, Mrs been reheating soup, ive used it mainly for reheating coffee, but I did use it to defrost a pack of chicken yesterday and seemed to defrost it a lot more evenly then my old one did so pleased.

Only thing Id say, going from 17l to 24l the thing is physically quite large, its good given there no rotating plate I reckon I can fit pretty much double what I could in the old one, but it does take up more space in the kitchen.
 
Yea I wouldn't get a microwave with a grill, the grills are always terrible and make a mess. I think maybe if you lived in a place where you didn't have any other cooking equipment maybe, but if I wanted to grill something I'd use the one in oven, or more likely just stick the gas BBQ on in the garage.
 
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