Customer Reviews

Sharp R-410LW Carousel 1-2/5-Cubic-Foot Family-Size Microwave Oven, White

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Because I have an existing trim kit, getting a particular size is extremely important to me. Unfortunately, Sharp keeps changing its models. Fortunately, this one not only fits perfectly, but it has more features than the last one. And, it is less expensive. And, it works faster. The good: fast, attractive, lots of features, big. The bad: nothing really, except my wife wishes the buttons were slightly larger. I think microwaves are one of the few products that get better and cost less with time. Highly recommended.

Our last Sharp oven lasted seven years, but not without some issues. The display went funky two or three years ago, but it was still usable. Lately, the unit would shut off while cooking for no apparent reason, and it was becoming more frequent. We started looking for a replacement online and consulted Consumer Reports. Generally, microwave ovens don't seem to get good reviews. Reliability overall seems very poor. The top rated models in CR get horrible subscriber reviews in the very same publication. The best Kenmore models are receiving one or two stars from consumers.
After much searching and scrutiny, it seems Sharp was the choice for a replacement. We have only had this oven for a couple days, but I can draw some comparisons to my previous oven.
My old oven had white screening over the door, and the R-410LW has a black one that is much easier to see through. The overall look is similar to my old R-319F, but the number pad and power level buttons have been moved to the top of the control surface, which is easier to read and reach. The 410 does not have sensor cook, but we never used it anyway. The power settings on the new oven are a little less convenient to use, having to press the power lever repeatedly to toggle down from 100%. The 410 is hotter then my old unit, even though the wattage is the same...1100. This one takes about 30 seconds less to boil 1-1/2 to 2 cups of water.
And finally , some nitpicking. The door on our old unit yellowed with age. The 410's door is plastic too, so it could do the same. That said, this model does look more modern with it's white front and silver, stainless looking applique on the door. My next nitpick is one that universally irritates me. That is, using hard to remove adhesives to affix labels on a product. Sharp places a clear protective sheet on the door, but UNDER that is an oval label that leaves it's adhesive when removed. This could not be removed with fingernails (it's that gummy stuff), and alcohol just smeared it. We had just read that cooking spray removed tar from autos, so we tried that. It worked, but too late to prevent the scuff marks from other attempts. Finally, can't someone make a microwave oven that doesn't sound like a ball bat against a garbage can when the door is closed? I would pay extra for a quiet closing door. How hard could that be?
In summary, this is a decent unit by comparison. It's all you need, and not too many whizzbangs pushed through by the marketing department that just never get used. The R-410LW stands out among online reviews as a winner, even if that's by default. Time will tell.

UPDATE:
After only nine months of use, our oven stops running mid-cycle. The magnetron kicks out, and the time display stops. On one occasion, it would not shut off at all, forcing me to unplug it. This gives credibility to all those poor reviews here and at Consumer Reports website. Like many other shoppers, I did a ridiculous amount of research and purchased very tentatively knowing the odds were against me. Microwave oven manufacturers should take note. They are failing miserably in features and reliability. Brought home a Panasonic with Inverter yesterday. Stay tuned...

I was swayed in selecting this item by the positive reviews and was not disappointed. This is a very good microwave and even 'tho it was advertised as white the black is quite acceptable. A fine product.

This Sharp microwave is very good,however we were sent a black model instead of the white one we ordered.We picked this particular model because it shows a white microwave and thats what my wife wanted.After the initial disappointment we decided not to send it back,we wanted this particular microwave and didn't want to take a chance there wouldn't be one left. It is a very good product for the money.

This microwave replaced a Sharp 800 watt model which had lasted 11 years and that was the main reason I chose another Sharp. I knew that microwaves of some other major companies were not lasting longer than a year if even that long.
The Sharp R-410LW I received very speedily from Amazon arrived in perfect condition. It was very nice and heated food very fast, amazingly faster than the old Sharp. It has been used about every day mainly to do warm ups. After about a little over a year of use it became VERY loud while operating and I suspected it was on it's way out. However, it continued to cook just fine but be very noisy for months and months. This morning my girlfriend was using it to cook green beans and the whole outer case got so hot you couldn't touch it. It cooked the beans fine but was also sort of like it was microwaving the outer case besides...even the very bottom. Not safe to use anymore we decided...no way! So this Sharp microwave lasted a month shy of two years, not nearly the durability I expected from a Sharp microwave!
I just bought a new Amana AMC5143AAW from [...] to replace it. Hope this one will do better.

The thermostat on my stove died with a lukewarm casserole in the oven and dinner guests arriving. I had to transfer the potatoes, chicken and cheese into two round baking dishes and then I cooked each for 8 minutes in my new Sharp microwave. My Chicken & Potato Mexican Casserole was perfect, my dinner party was saved and I love my Sharp Carousel Microwave!!!!! Also, this is my third microwave and the first one that makes a perfect bag of popcorn - no scorch and all the kernels popped. Everything about this purchase was exceptional - it even arrived a day early.

Microwave itself is a good size and plenty powerful but I will not buy another microwave with a push button door opening-it's very loud when you close it.That's the only thing that I do not like about this one. Otherwise it's been good-have had it for over 6 months with no complaints.

I bought this microwave after my old one died. At first I was pleased, but after one year of use, it began arcing and making very scary noises and a horrible burning chemical smell. It's toast. Literally. I'm so tired of buying appliances that are essentially disposable after such a short period of time. Someone else commented that they were pleased that the microwave is "going strong after 6 months". Is that all we expect from products anymore? So sad. Would definitely not recommend this product to anyone who would like it to last longer than a year.
I thought I'd try to live without, but I'm not ready to give up fast defrosting. So after much research we're going with the Panasonic NN-SD688S.

This a great microwave for the money and it does everything that one could ask of a counter top model. It's bigger than I thought it would be, but that's my fault. But there is one catch. The bulb was out inside and it either arrived that way or it quit very shortly afterward (like a couple of days). I didn't notice it at first, but once it was pointed out to me it became quite apparent. I called Sharp (not Amazon) and reported it and they approved warranty service at a local authorized appliance repair shop. 5 1/2 weeks later, I got my microwave back. Now I realize that I should have been more pro active about speeding this process up, but I did have a backup microwave. And I did call a couple of times but to no avail. I travel some, so I also tended to lose track of the amount of time that it was gone. Anyway, there's no excuse for the amount of time it took to repair the unit and I'd suggest to anyone in a similar circumstance that they pay more attention than I did and contact Sharp and/or Amazon if necessary. It's too bad because it's a nice unit and it soured me a little on Sharp (I sent them the story too).

I bought this microwave based on the reviews I read here and I LOVE it! I looked it up online and saw that it was available at a local PC Richards (East Hanover, NJ) and bought it from the store there because I was able to haggle the price down to $99.

It's a beautiful microwave and it works extremely well. The popcorn feature is perfect. I had never used that on prior microwaves; essentially, you put the popcorn in, hit the button, and it cooks the popcorn down to the last kernel. (Update: it uses the same amount of time for each bag so I guess the time is universal. Still works great, though). I typically burn the popcorn or leave a number of kernels uncooked when I cook it myself manually, so it's nice to have a foolproof system.

It's extremely clean, simple and white. It blends in very naturally. It's easy to clean, you can wipe the whole face down without a problem. The light inside is great. It's also HUGE. Very deep! Which is a big plus. Just make sure you measure the space ahead of time. I got nervous it might not fit on the end of my counter, but it definitely fits and it looks great. (I posted some pictures of it up top).

I really like this microwave. It is built really well and looks and cooks great! Highly recommended! It's also much better than stainless steel because it doesn't leave finger prints.

Downsides: As others have suggested, it is a little loud when you close it. This is basically a non-issue to me. Other than that, I still get slightly jumbled at finding the Start button vs. the Timer button, even though I've had this now for 3 months.