Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poor reliability, May 26, 2008
I am very disappointed at the poor reliability of this unit. Ours is less than a year old and has failed--now, when attempting to cook, the unit shuts off before the end of the programmed time. Even though the light comes on and the turntable turns, the unit does not heat food. Like others, I purchased this unit based on the recommendation in Consumer Reports; this recommendation didn't pan out. I tried to schedule warranty service and GE is making us wait a week to schedule and their frustrating telephone system does not provide information on where I can take it for service for faster turnaround (and didn't put me in touch with a live representative).
When the microwave oven worked, it worked fine. We replaced a Sharp unit with this one; though this unit has the advantage of a larger capacity, its controls are less intuitive.
Based on poor reliability and poor service, we're certainly not going to buy another GE microwave. We've had good success with GE refrigerators in the past; this is very disappointing. A quick search on the web now reveals that GE microwave ovens are not reliable--many others appear to have similar problems with the magnetrons.
Perhaps this is one reason why GE is looking to sell its appliance business...
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great countertop microwave, May 18, 2008
Pros:
Large
Fast and Even Heating
Great Defrost
Not too loud
Cons:
Sensor reheat is only good for soups and other substance that it is okay to heat to boiling (don't trust it with Pizza, or other foods like that).
Bottom Line: This is an excellent large microwave for countertop use. The inverter defrost works almost perfectly every time, never cooking my food more than it should, but the reheat is a gimmick.
This is a large countertop microwave, at about 2.2 cubic foot. Coming from an over-the-range microwave this is a huge improvement in size. The microwave heats uniformly and fast (it is 1200 watts). The sensor reheat should only be used on foods it is safe to boil, otherwise it overcooks about everything else. It also works best when you lightly cover the food, as sometimes uncovered food triggers it to turn off too early. Lightly covered is critical, as the sensor works off water vapor temperature being released from the product. If the water vapor cant leave the container it could become superheated. Sensor cook should also only be used under supervision (you should be in the same room).
I have had the microwave for about 6 months now with no issue. It is no louder than other microwaves I have used, and the controls are intuitive and easy to use. You do not have to press a cook button or anything to start your timed cooking. My favorite feature is the inverter defrost. Remember you enter the weight in pounds, so for an 8 oz pack of bacon you would enter "5" and "start" for 1/2 of a pound. If you had a 1.5 pound package of meat, you would enter "15" and "start" for 1.5 pounds. The display shows the weight correctly. Not much else to say about the product, it is a microwave after all.
Update: To improve "sensor reheat" performance, use a lid over the food with a vent hole. I use a paper plate with a small hole (finger tip size) punched in it. This will make sure the reheat stays running long enough, but still gets some water vapor to judge the food temperature by so it doesn't over cook.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Larger and More Powerful But Short Service Life, May 23, 2008
E. J. Tastad's review of this product is accurate and appropriate, but I would like to add some additional information. I bought this GE Profile microwave oven in March of 2006 on the recommendation of Consumer Reports. In September 2009 I am sorry to report that I had to throw it out because it wasn't worth repairing. Consumer Reports gave this GE model their top rating for large microwave ovens. It replaced an old Amana RadarRange that I had used for about 25 years before it burst into flames. The Amana had also received Consumer Reports top rating back then. If I recall, my Amana sold for about twice as much money (in 1981 dollars) as this GE costs in 2006 dollars.
Since this microwave oven is more powerful, faster and consumes more electricity than small models, you may need to have a dedicated 20 ampere outlet available for its use. Compared with my old Amana, the GE has a much more uniform distribution of heat when cooking or reheating, probably because the food is rotated on a turntable. As E. J. Tastad found, the defrost cycle is easy to use, gives good distribution of heat and the front panel controls are fairly intuitive. The stainless steel cabinet is attractive and easy to clean.
Unlike my old Amana, this oven cannot multi-task. For example, if you're running the built-in clock timer, you cannot cook or reheat something on a different schedule using different functions. You must stop the clock timer to begin a cook cycle and vice versa. You also cannot program several sequences of automatic operations as my old Amana could accommodate, nor can you program it to start at a later time.
This microwave oven was not as reliable and did not last nearly as long as my old Amana did. The magnetron tube in my GE Profile microwave oven failed after two years of use. It's replacement was covered by the five-year GE warranty on the tube, but the warranty didn't cover the $85 in labor charges, which would have been even more if I had received the service on-site instead of taking the appliance to the appliance repair depot. After 3 1/2 years of use, (September 2009) the main circuit board self-destructed. It cost me $44 at the nearest GE repair facility to learn that it would cost me more than another $200 to replace the microwave oven's circuit board.
Since other brands of similar-sized and power microwave ovens cost less than the repairs, I have discarded this microwave oven after 3 1/2 years and after spending $129 in diagnostic and repair charges in addition to the purchase price. Given this experience, I now be hard-pressed to recommend this appliance considering its cost-of-ownership and short life. This appliance should have lasted much longer. It did not get heavy use and was never misused or abused.
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