Customer Reviews

Panasonic NN-SN667W, 1.2cuft 1300 Watt Sensor Microwave Oven, White

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

This is probably my fourth oven in nearly twenty-four years of marriage, and our second Panasonic. Our first was a huge Panasonic faux wood-grain box with two knobs: time and power level. That one far outlasted numbers two and three, which were both Sharp brand. The first Sharp lasted a hand full of years, albeit with a display that worked part time. The second lasted only nine months, and began to either shut off or keep running on for no apparent reason. After too much research here and at Consumer Reports, we cautiously ordered this one. It seems that most top rated ovens have reliability problems after only months of use. After several days of use, we have grown to prefer this unit over our previous Sharp ovens. First, the cons: It's a little louder than the Sharp equivalent, but the tone isn't obnoxious. The door has those darn white stripes that make it hard to see if your cocoa or Malt-o-Meal is boiling over, especially with light from a nearby window glaring off of it. You can't use the keypad to select power level as with our first Sharp. You have to scroll down to defrost with multiple button pushes or by holding "power level". The Panasonic does scroll much faster than the Sharp, so it's no hassle at all. It does beep at each level, but the noise isn't screaming. The tone when finished cooking is five short beeps of adequate volume. We actually prefer the ability to mute the tones altogether.
The pros:
This oven is fast! Consumer Reports states that oven wattage is not really a big deal, but the Panasonic's 1300 watts is very effective. It kicks our old oven's tail for boiling water for tea, and reheats foods evenly in a flash. I used the Turbo Defrost on grilled burgers, and the setting for food weight was accurate and heating was incredibly even. The center was perfectly defrosted and the edges were not much warmer. I followed that with sensor reheat and the meat was hot, but not overdone. We never even used these features on the old oven because of the hassle with settings. We also like the raised "real" chrome buttons for "start" and "reset", and a few other buttons, since they are easier to punch quickly than the smooth keypad buttons, which you have to hit dead center and very deliberately on this and most other ovens. When closing the door, by the way, this unit sounds more solid and quiet than the Sharp ovens which clang when closed. The only unknown is reliability. Not all the reviews on this brand with inverter cooking are favorable in this regard, so we'll keep you posted, but we're very satisfied for now.

The Panasonic microwave that my new NN-SN667 replaces had lasted me 23 years, including the original light bulb inside! With that in mind, I gave this brand most of my attention. Nonetheless I devoted considerable time to studying all the major brands, models, types, reading reviews and going to stores to further evaluate what is available today. Although Sharp stood out at times I kept returning to Panasonic, especially after many of the reviews I read. Surprisingly, some of the more upscale Panasonic stainless steel microwaves I examined in stores had doors that were very difficult to open and the units looked bulky when viewed up close. This particular Panasonic microwave, in white metal with a plastic door, is fairly light weight and modestly good looking. The beeps it emits are not overly loud, which improves upon the former model I had. Its basic operations like timed cooking and clock-setting were easy to figure out without the instruction book. I should add that once I did finally read the instruction book I learned about helpful features like 'keep warm' and 'turbo defrost' that came in handy later.

I have a particular space that the microwave must fit in. I pored over dimensions vs. platter size trying to locate a microwave with enough space inside yet somehow be compact on the outside. With that said, I should have reviewed dimensions from multiple sources (such as going to the manufacturer's Web site) because Amazon's stated specs on this unit are slightly out of order. By my own measurements the Panasonic NN-SN667W stands 11-7/8" high, is 20-1/4" wide and 15-1/2" deep if you take into account the 1-inch protrusion on the back of the oven. Trifling difference I know, but I could have moved up to the next larger unit without exceeding my allotted space if Amazon listed the right height.

Many reviewers have commented on how the interior light doesn't come on when the door is opened. Of course the light DOES come on while items are cooking. No light when the door is open is a benefit if you ask me. This unit is so low slung that humidity may condense at the top inside after heating liquids. You may want to get some splatter guard utensils as well. (I like the Progressive International Microwavable Dome Food Cover.) Anyway, leaving the door open for a couple of minutes lets the microwave's interior dry without expending the lamp or electricity while doing so. While the unit is cooking and the interior light is lit the view inside to monitor contents is reasonable. I do not think that the mesh in the door window is overly obstructive as some perceive it to be, it is more likely protective. I should also tell you: 1300 watts of cooking power must be regarded with care. Plus be careful not to run another high wattage appliance off the same outlet at the same time you are cooking with this microwave. You may trip a breaker. This microwave's power cord is only two feet long. If you need more cord length plan on buying a proper power strip. I recommend a Belkin 6-Outlet Home/Office Surge Protector with Rotating Plug and 8' Cord because the cord is strong and the plug is flat, allowing it to fit into narrow places behind appliances.

A mug of cold water will become heated to near boiling in 1 minute, 30 seconds. It can handily defrost frozen meat although I tend to stop the process in about 1/3 of the time the oven calculates (based on weight that you enter into the defrost mode set up). Perhaps someday I'll brave microwaving frozen meat for the full duration of calculated defrost and see whether I regret it or not. In the mean time I'll initiate thawing with this microwave and finish defrost in water.

I share in the opinion that the numeric readout is rough to interpret if seen up close from above. Either stand back a few feet or bend forward slightly to look at it head on. Then the numerals won't look like all 8s. That's something that Panasonic could improve upon to make this an even better appliance, which I currently rate as 4-1/2 stars.

very pleasant experience. It arrived as promised - just plug it in and you are on your way. I purchased this model for 2 features: the sensor buttons and the inverter defrost button. an unexpected feature was the "keep warm" button. Cooked food or left overs can be kept warm for up to 30 minutes. A great feature. I am very satisfied with this unit and would recommend it to anyone.

Re Panasonic NN-SN667W, 1.2cuft 1300 Watt Sensor Microwave Oven, White
I bought this new in mid November 2010. Worked great until the end of December 2010.
It broke, running for 2 or 3 seconds, then stopping. It did this several times and finally just stopped altogether.
Called warranty service at Panasonic. They gave me a local appliance store which does their work SUPPOSEDLY. I called the store. They said they won't do the work because Panasonic doesn't pay properly. One person said, "they're not nice people."
I called Panasonic again. They told me to mail it to another locale for repair, but they wouldn't cover shipping. Well, shipping would cost half again as much as the produce. So I said no thanks, I'll just pitch it and buy a new microwave, anything other than a Panasonic.
It was real pretty and ran very well for 1 and 1/2 months.
John

Beautiful product, works great, so many options, cooks in almost half the time of standard microwave, great for popcorn, easy to use, good instruction booklet, so we are very happy with product!

I had to ship this oven back because the dimensions listed at Amazon.com are incorrect. The oven was too large for my shelf. If you're buying one to fit a particular space, note that the unit is 16 inches deep, 12 inches tall and 21 inches wide. Also, you can't see the food cooking through the window because of the heavy screen.

We bought this microwave because it fits in our narrow cabinet but still has a lot of power.

I wish I'd read the other reviews more carefully. These design flaws annoy us every day:

- The door open button is flimsy and hard to use. Often it takes a few tries to get the door open.

- The light only comes on when it's running. But the glass in the door has a protective grid that is so dark you can't see through it. Worse, when you open the door, the light stays off!

- The display can't be seen at an angle. But this is a counter-top model, so most likely you'll be looking at it from an angle. You'll probably need to crouch down to read it.

- There is a 1-minute button but no 30-second button. There are buttons that say More and Less but they don't work when using simple time-based cooking.

I chose this microwave because its dimensions are smaller than Sharp's microwaves of similar capacity (I have to fit it on a shelf). I bought it from Amazon for its free-shipping offer because I wanted it shipped directly to my work place, and I'd prefer dealing with Amazon rather than an unknown seller on its web site. It's a spanking white microwave and works well as one would expect from Panasonic. It has been almost a month and nothing to complain about.

Save your money and use it wisely on another brand.

This microwave stopped working 9 months after I purchased it.

Panasonic had me drop off the defective (dead as a door nail) microwave at an authorized repair facility which has not been able to repair it 3 weeks later. Calls to both the Repair Facility and Panasonic Customer Support number (which is answered in the Philippines) are a waste of time as neither can offer a date the unit will be ready nor will they offer a replacement unit.

Not only is the microwave unreliable, Panasonic's own authorized repair facilities cannot fix it and customer service is ineffective and useless.

I can't believe how quickly food cooks in this microwave. The 1300 watt supply is a significant improvement over the 1100 watts in other comparable models. Instead of just using this to re-heat food, I'm using it to cook meals from scratch - a milestone for this 'basics only' chef. The turntable is great - so far, everything has been cooked evenly - no 'cold' centers.