Why we bought the GE Microwave Model JE1235WW:
My now husband and I registered for this microwave when we were engaged, for our wedding shower back in April of 1999. I don't know if it was out of curiosity or envy, but many of our friends and family insisted on "inspecting" everything we registered for. Since we had never lived on our own, never had our own kitchen and they probably thought we had no idea what we needed and what was good quality as far as appliances went. We surprised them! My mother, his aunt and a few friends ended up purchasing this very microwave (as well as other items on our registry) for themselves. We chose this particular model because it had a powerful 900 Watts, it wasn't a monster in size, it had a turn-table, it seemed to be easy to use and it was nice looking. We compared this GE model to other makes and found that this one offered the most amount of power and features for the price, so naturally, we wanted it.

Great features:
This microwave has an auto defrost button, which is perfect for frozen meats we so often hate to leave out an entire day to defrost. It also has "convenience features" or special buttons for popcorn, frozen pizza, soup, baked potato, fresh vegetables, beverage and dinner plate. You can also select the power level of the microwave. You can choose from levels 1-9, each level gives you microwave energy a certain percent of the time. For example, 8 is microwave energy 80% of the time, 3 is 30%, etc. This is very useful when you want to keep food warm but don't want it to cook, you can select power level 1. Or if you to cook bacon, fish or boil liquid, you can select power level 9.

You can microwave something for any time up to 59 minutes and 99 seconds. If you are ever unsure of how long to cook something, the microwave's manual comes with a very handy "Cooking Guide for Time Cooking" which lists some foods, different portion sizes and their corresponding cooking time. It also has a defrosting guide, which addresses different meat types.

Specific measurements:
This microwave is 12" tall, 22" wide and 15" deep. And the rotating turn-table plate is 12.75" across.

What is it like to use this microwave?
Using this microwave couldn't be easier. You know how some microwaves require you to press a specific button, then you press the time and then hit start? But you always forget which button to hit first? This always happens to me when I use my mother-in-law's microwave or a friend's microwave. For example, my mother-in-law's microwave has these 2 buttons, "power" and "m-wave on." I always hit the "m-wave on" button, then enter let's say a minute and hit start and nothing happens. Because you use one of those buttons for minutes and the other for seconds, or something like that. I don't have the patience for something so stupid. I just want to press 60 and hit start. With this microwave, that is all you have to do! No nonsense to deal with, it's a piece of cake.

How has this microwave performed over time?
As I mentioned, we have had this microwave for three years. I am very picky when it comes to appliances. I want something that always performs perfectly and is easy to use. This microwave is all that and more. It was strong when we first used it and it was strong when I used today. It just seems to be such a durable little machine. If you saw it, you would think it was brand new. It's appearance was well-designed because it doesn't look dated after a few years. All things considered, this microwave is extremely durable and will last a long time without problems.

Is it easy to clean?
This microwave is extremely easy to clean. All you need is a damp paper towel. The exterior is completely smooth, so wiping dust and fingerprints off the whole unit (including buttons) is simple. And the interior has some type of non-stick coating, which takes the headache out of cleaning it after a bowl of pasta has exploded. Plus, the glass turn-table is removable, so you can even throw it in the dishwasher if necessary.

Who should buy this microwave?
I would recommend this GE microwave to anyone who is in the market for a new microwave. It offers all of the typical features of microwaves, it has a turn-table (revolving cook plate), it is powerful and it can pretty much fit anywhere. Our experience with it for the past 3 years has been ideal and I think it would be perfect for anyone.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 150.00