New Microwave Oven Sharp or LG?

I have had a Sharp for nearly ten years and found it to be excellent. It has all the gizmos such as sensor cook and defost, but funny enough I never use them.

I have no idea what the round thingo is or means -

David

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

I got a sharp, its never missed a beat. The LCD display is a joke though, screwed up within a month or so, i was to lazy to get it fixed. Its still usuable, only missing a line or 2. I think the problem is not actually a sharp fault, but rather becasue my machine sits above a wall mounted oven that heats up the microwave

I've had a few of the sharps in for display problems all of which sharp replaced without a fuss even if unit was out of warranty. Only other probs have been broken door latch assy from heavy handed operators.

I, personally would go for the Sharp having seen the support they have for their product and their repairers.

LG, well......., read the warranty details - it may be a replacement unit warranty where the unit is simply replaced by the retailer if a faulty develops with your unit - this would be a good thing.

If it is a repair warranty then it may be a while before you see it again. LG and Panasonic share equally the title of being the slowest manufacturers to process warranty claims and send parts out to honour the claims. I'll let Panasonic of the hook a little as they do manage to send the correct parts first time around (unlike LG) when they get around to delivery.

The above is worst case thinking should something go wrong with the unit. I would expect both units to serve 2-3 years in normal domestic duty without a problem. Any more than this will be down to lady luck and she doesn't seem to care what brand you have or how much you spent.

Cheers, Sam T

Thanks for the feedback. Round cavity means instead of a squarish interior, the side walls are curved around the turntable (like inside a cylindrical object). I've downloaded the manual but funny that it never mention the advantages of having a round cavity. I suppose it makes interior cleaning a bit easier, I don't know what else it's good for.

Peter

quietguy wrote:

all the gizmos such as sensor cook and defost, but funny enough I never use them.

My parents and a few relatives have Sharp microwaves for many years and are still going strong, so I guess they are pretty good but then I don't anyone who has a LG (it maybe just as good).

I've heard problems about the LCD display on Sharp microwave, it's integrated with something and has to replace the whole lot if the display ever plays up. There're quite a few posts regarding this in the repair group, parts & labor make it impractical to repair unless it's for a high-end model.

I dug up an old article from Choice magazine (July 2001), interestingly enough they recommended the Sharp R380D (now revision J, R380J) and R340D (the 340 series is obsoleted, I think 350 replaces it and R350J is the current model). The obvious difference between R380J and R350J is senor cooking/reheating.

Now I'm not quite sure if the sensor thing is going to be useful, I use the microwave mainly for reheating leftover foods and forzen meals, and very basic cooking like bacon and fish fillets. I'm not fancy cooking steaks or chicken in a microware, so yeah maybe I just get the R350J afterall.

My parents and a few relatives have Sharp microwaves for many years and are still going strong, so I guess they are pretty good but then I don't anyone who has a LG (it maybe just as good).

I've heard problems about the LCD display on Sharp microwave, it's integrated with something and has to replace the whole lot if the display ever plays up. There're quite a few posts regarding this in the repair group, parts & labor make it impractical to repair unless it's for a high-end model.

I dug up an old article from Choice magazine (July 2001), interestingly enough they recommended the Sharp R380D (now revision J, R380J) and R340D (the 340 series is obsoleted, I think 350 replaces it and R350J is the current model). The obvious difference between R380J and R350J is senor cooking/reheating.

Link:

Now I'm not quite sure if the sensor thing is going to be useful, I use the microwave mainly for reheating leftover foods and forzen meals, and very basic cooking like bacon and fish fillets. I'm not fancy cooking steaks or chicken in a microware, so yeah maybe I just get the R350J afterall.

...... Possibly spreads the microwave energy more evenly so it cooks better.

The round interior most likely gives the illusion of having more efficient use of space. Stuff rotates after all, and with a square cavity you can't really use the corner space, your biggest item is the diameter from one wall to the other, not from corner to corner. So having the round interior might fool some people into thinking the space is more efficent maybe?, i.e. it's a marketing gimick. Most likely it could have been a square anyway with the same usable diameter.

Dave :)

as far as nukes are conserned i believe sharp make the better units out of the lot. the units are better in terms of user ease, i much perfer a touch panel with [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][0] instead of [1 |10] [1 |10]

if you have the choice (and money usually is a limiting facter) obtain one of the sharp convection nukes - these can operate in nuke or oven or both modes convection is usefull in small appartments where kitchen space is a limit - or just incase the main oven stuffs it. convect nukes have better temp regulation too

My Sharp is 19 years old - and still going strong...

My Panasonic is 22 years old and still going strong. So what?

MrT.

Electronic applicances from the old days tend to last a long time, maybe because things aren't that complicated back then, also possibly they used quality components and had stricter manufacturing/QC processes. I think the manufacturing philosophy has transformed from quality and reliability to innovation and cost effectiveness over the years.

I have a 20 years old NEC TV and it's still working perfectly. I doubt that any recent models can last this long. It's a pity that they will switch off the analogue transmission by 2008 and the TV will retire when it happens (no AV input for set-top-box).

Anyway, I picked up the Sharp R350J this afternoon. Panasonic is good but it costs slightly more than what I'm willing to pay, I think the extra cost is to cover the inverter technology. The LG came very close, but I noticed that the turntable support (roller stay/rotating ring or whatever it's called) is made of cheap recycle-like material with very rough edges. It makes me wonder if they use such material for visible part, then what's inside could be a lot worse.

I have concluded that the round cavity found in LG is a gimmick, it doesn't really do anything. Yes, it makes more efficient use of the interior, but then the oven itself is still squarish and it occupies the same amount of space like any other microwave. Also I don't think a cylindrical interior improves the heating efficiency because microwave cooks food from the inside out not the other way around like conventional ovens. If round cavity is so good then wouldn't all new models have it?

Alrighty, thanks for your feedback.

Mr.T wrote:

So what? That's not bad for an electrical appliance!

I take it that you agree that you were also satisfied with purchasing a Sharp MW?

An internal design with non-parallel reflective walls would probably distribute the energy more evenly than the "standard" shape of walls at right-angles to each other.

This technique is used in audio areas to prevent standing waves while maximising available space, one wonders why a similar thing doesn't seem to have been used in ovens.

I am guessing that the cost to implement V the benifit makes it unreasonable. Whilst I really have no idea about this, one has to question the actual benifit. Is it 0.01% increase in performance, or is it 50% increase?? A square is easy to make...

I thought that the so-called "fan-forced" microwave ovens simply use fan blades as mobile reflecters. Or do these only exist in combined convection/uWave ovens?

New Scientist magazine published an article about a new microwave design with a pentagonal shaped chamber, this eliminated the RF standing wave inside the oven and was much more efficient in terms of energy used and eveness of the heating.

Maybe this is a similar design?.

Here take a look for yourself at paragraph 5 and 6, it's all about microwave optics. Oh, a cylinder is easier to make than a cube in sheetmetal too BTW. The pentagonal shape won't be seen unless manufacturers license it from the paten holders.

Yes, and they often cost up to 10 times the price in relative dollars/income.

Yep, the cost is more effective for replacing more often.

I wonder just how many hours you worked to buy it originally? Do they currently make any the same size, that cost as much in "real terms" (after allowing for inflation)? (CRT type of course)

Why would you not prefer to buy a similar set, with newer features, possibly twice as often, but for less than half the price? The saving on initial outlay is another bonus, especially if you save interest on any loan or mortgage in the process!

However you could still use a STB and RF converter if you really want to. You probably have a VCR that will do the conversion for you already.

Since you don't appear to have tried it, I cant see how you determined that?

A common misconception, so easily demonstrated to be false, that I cannot understand how it persists after all these years!

Not if people think like you. (disclaimer, I haven't tried one so have no idea if it really reduces hotspots, but it might)

MrT.