Customer Reviews

GE Microwave Black Model #WES1130DMBB

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Replaced a very old microwave oven with this new GE model. This one does work much better than the 12 year old one; however, the rotating cooking platform rattles and seems cheaply made. In all honesty I cannot complain about its ability to heat things up. We use this at work so it is mainly for heating breakfast and lunch items and reheating coffee. To this end it will satisfy your needs.

Two things I do not like about it. To set the timer for some amount of time you must press "time cook" and then the amount of time. You cannot just push "4" "5" and get 45 seconds. As soon as you press the "4" you get 4 minutes and it starts immediately.

Second, the finished notification sound, 3 beep sounds, starts going off before the cooking is done. I would rather it beep when the oven is completely done with its timed cooking. This way if you want to open the door to stop the beeping you aren't interrupting the cooking cycle. Not a big deal but if you are wanting to be somewhat quiet you must anticipate the finish and interrupt the cooking cycle to circumvent the beeping.

Given the price it was worth the money, but if they had consulted a user or two during its design it could have been much better.

Overall I'm not real happy with this purchase. My biggest complaint is the noise level. My previous GE microwave, which lasted 11 years was sooooo much quieter in operation. The magnitron device makes a much louder hum and buzz sound than my previous GE when it's cooking/reheating and the beeps from the touchpad and the done beeps are loud enough to wake sleepers on the second floor with their doors closed! I don't recommend buying this microwave! I'm rating it 5 stars for Durability solely on the history I've had with GE products. Time will tell.

I had one like this previously and had problems with the door sticking. One hand holding a bowl and one to open the door meant having to lay down the bowl each time. I replaced that one with this one and within a few months had the same door problems, however, that isn't why I'm panning the machine.

Today, all the paint on the inside top of the oven began to flake off in big pieces. I was washing it after splattering some sauce and felt this crumbly stuff. We keep it clean so I knew it wasn't old burned on food. When I removed the wet rag it was covered with paint. When I looked up in there it had peeled completely away from the metal. More was blistering. Evidently there was a paint adhesion problem when it was manufactured and it's only now beginning to peel away.

I called G.E. and talked to a guy but he said there wasn't anything he could do and to try customer relations. I've had no luck finding their number though so looks like I'll buy another product this next time.....not a G.E. though.

unhappy customer

I have been pleased with the ability of this microwave to cook food or reheat a dish. Popcorn, unlike my previous microwave, turns out well. In fact, the regular sized Orville Redenbacher popcorn will pop perfectly with just a single press of the popcorn button. Here is a rundown of the pros and cons:

Pro:
* Inexpensive
* 1200 watts or so which is the sweet spot for most frozen/convenience meals
* Cooks popcorn beautifully (except for those 100 calorie bags)
* Plenty of presets for most of what you're going to be cooking

Con:
* Crappy door latch -- mine doesn't release easily. Must press very hard and sometimes fight with it to get the door to open.
* Stupid / idiotic instrument panel with which most presets cannot be operated without keeping the instruction manual in a drawer nearby. For example, to reheat something you must press "Reheat" (obvious/easy) but then you need to know the codes (1-4) for whether it's a pasta dish, a vegetable plate, etc. -- unless you can memorize that sort of thing. You also must, for defrosting, remember exactly what format is required to enter the size of the item, again needing the instructions to jog your memory. Other presets are similar in needing to refer to the manual. There must be some way of either putting these codes on the front or making the display work more like a menu. I'm tired of getting out the guide every time I want to reheat a dish. This alone nearly drove this to a 2 star score.
* Annoying instant start scheme -- Press 1, and it instantly starts with one minute. There is a 30 second button to add 30 seconds as well. If you're wanting anything other than 30 second increments, you must press "time cook" and then type in the time.

For the money this isn't a bad unit, but because I really do like preset controls, this "code" nonsense is pretty hard for me to get over. I've had the microwave for some time now, and because I just had to get out the manual AGAIN to heat up my Christmas leftovers plate, I was annoyed enough to review the unit to hopefully inform someone else of this annoyance.

I loved this microwave at first. I bought it because of the one touch panel (just touch a number and it heats for that number of minutes). It still heats fine after a year, but the plastic film covering the number pad is crimping. Also, the open button doesn't work well. I tried to fix it, but discovered that the door latch mechanism is made of cheap plastic, that has worn down. I guess none of this is surprising given the price.

Had micro for about 3 months. First the door wouldn't close or open well. It kept getting stuck. Then at just before 3 months the finish on the inside bottom under the turntable started to flake off - a lot. Very poorly made.

Like one of the other reviewers here, this oven stopped heating, even though it kept running. It worked fine for the first day. The next morning I decided to try the one-touch feature for cooking bacon. The turntable went around as normal, the light went on, it made noise as if cooking, but ... nothing! Zero heat. To make sure, I put a mug of water in for two minutes. It wasn't even warm. Fortunately, I got my money back.

Great choice i am so glad i found this, it works better than any other micro i had looks great too.

First the door was a problem, then the buttons and after 1 week the microwave runs but doesnt heat.