General Electric JES1288SH 950 Watts Convection / Microwave Oven

Pros: Nice looking, plenty of features, easy to use, roomy.
Cons: Dangerously unstable with regards to the arcing problem.

Minor gripe: letters/paint rubbed off buttons.

We received this GE JES1288SH microwave secondhand from my parents, it's a 2003 model and is a nice looking stainless steel front oven and easy to use (although we have never found a reason to try to grill or brown anything in it). From the day we turned ...

Pros: Beautiful and easy to use
Cons: Nearly caught on fire with no warning, after only 3 years' use

I bought the GE 1288 SH02 microwave oven in the summer or fall of 2004, and have never had a moment's problem with it until two days ago, when suddenly it began buzzing loudly while cooking an egg patty on a paper plate. Light was flashing behind the ...

Pros: Basically easy to use. Great browning and grilling features before the rack broke.
Cons: Lasted less then 2 years. I want to keep my house.

Like mentioned above, mine also caught on fire after about a year and a half of use. My no-name brand that I bought for $40 lasted 7 years longer then this one that cost me $140 on sale. I loved using the grilling feature and made delicious salmon ...

Pros: Easy to clean and is pretty and shinny
Cons: Sorry service life for a product of this type

04-18-2007 More information: UPDATE.. I have good news,yes I really do. I call the GE people and talked to the people at 1-800-848-7620 Customer Relations. After going into detail about the date I bought the oven and the problems I had with the ...

Pros: It is shiny.
Cons: Need I say more than fire hazzard and the fact that GE won't take responsibility.

In February of 2007 my wife and I purchased a GE Microwave model # JES1288.  By December of 2007 the microwave was making a loud buzzing sound, sparking and flaming in the area that contains the magnetron.  I called GE and they sent out a ...

Pros: Excellent convection cooking and microwave is average.
Cons: Controls have been too simplified. Changing plates to microwave or grill. Poor online support.

We bought this microwave as a replacement. Overall it is a good microwave. The convection cooking capability lets you brown those microwaveable foods, cook steaks (yes they come out nice), and do the mundane microwave chores like pop popcorn. The controls are rather simple...a little too simple. GE went too far in simplification and sacrificed convenience and flexibility. You select a button, use the dial to select your food and time and then have to push the dial several times until you push enough to start the microwave or get it to the point to start. You only get 15 second blocks of time. You have to change plates between convection cooking and microwave cooking which is annoying. The cooking aspect is excellent. The controls need serious rework to make it a good product for the home. GE offers no online support for this product. You can't even find it on the GE website.

Pros: Multiple features, nice stainless steel design
Cons: Caught on fire and stopped working 2 years from purchase.

Buzzing, smoking and small fire from cardboard area to the right of the inside of the microwave. It lasted only two years and I paid $270.00 for it at Lowes. I was disappointed this product was not recalled, as it is a fire hazard.

Pros: The box it came in lasted longer than the microwave
Cons: It is a fire danger Don't buy!

We used it about a year and a half before it started shooting flames,even though we always kept it clean and took very good care of it.We bought it for the browning feature which didn't work very well,perhaps it was designed to brown the inside of your house right before it burns it down!Don't buy this UNSAFE piece of trash!It should be recalled before somebody gets killed in a house fire because of it!

Pros: Looks nice,great storage box for dog food
Cons: Too expensive when it only last 18 months

I bought one of these units in December of 2005.It has arced out three times and I quit using it.I tried the the 1-800 numbers and got jerked around for a half an hour.They said if I would take it to an a service center and have it analyzed they would replace the magnetron(they knew exactly what was wrong with it when I described the problem).Of course there is not a service center in this area and everyone else who works on appliances will not touch it due to the reputation preceding GE that they will not pay for anything anyway.I offered to take it out and send it to them but this was not acceptable.I will report them to the BBB and the state Attorney General and will never buy another GE product.BUYER BEWARE

Pros: I liked that it would microwave, grill and brown as long as it lasted.
Cons: I too think it should be recalled after lasting only 2 years!

I bought this oven in July 04 because I said when the oven I had (for at least 20 yrs.) finally died I wanted one that also baked like an oven. This one wasn't exactly like I wanted but I figured it would do. It worked fine until July of this year when it started, yes you guessed it, sparking. But it wasn't all the time and it was not picky about the type of cooking vessel I was using or the food I was trying to cook. I finally called GE last week and was told it would cost $69.95 just to come and look at it. I emailed them and told them my problem and "if it was going to cost that much to look at after only 2 years of service, I may as well buy a new one. But after reading other opinions on the ovens, it wouldn't be a GE." They called me today and offered to give me a rebate voucher for $70 when I bought any new GE oven. Of course I will take them up on the offer. But only after reading opinions on models available in my area.

Pros: Stainless Interior
Cons: Slower microwave times, grill & brown features not all that helpful, and not very reliable

Purchased the unit at Sam's Club on 3/27/04 for $158, on the basis of the stainless interior and grill & brown features.

Cook times were acceptable, but less that the microwave we replaced.

Brown and grill features are marginally helpful. Perhaps I did not use them in the right manner.

The primary reason I am entering this review is due to the poor reliability of this model.

Purchased in March, 2004, the power supply was replaced under warranty in February, 2005. Now, January, 2006, the Magnetron has gone belly-up. GE will stand the cost of the part, but it will cost no less than $50 for the service call. I think it not unreasonable to expect longer, uninterrupted service from this product than 22 months!

We have put our former microwave back into service, that actually heats more quickly, but does not have a stainless interior, which does not show discoloration over time as white interiors do.

Pros: Very very dependable, easy to use, great defrost feature.
Cons: Unchangeable (?) light bulb, unremovable upper electric element makes cleaning the ceiling difficult.

I've used this microwave nearly every night for the past four years. It is easy to use, and looks good. No fire problem yet (God willing!) and I've let it get pretty messy on the inside at times. My only real reservation is that the owner's manual gives no indication of how to replace the light bulb, which blew after 3 1/2 years of use. Highly recommended!

Pros: It looks nice.
Cons: Customer Service Department not willing to back their product!

We started having problems with this microwave within 9 months. It would start creating it's own little electrical fire storm behind the microwave diffuser plate. (the diffuser plate is the little metallic piece of cardboard inside the oven on the right) We pulled the diffuser plate and wiped it off. This would happen every few months. Eventually it burnt a hole through the plate and the electrical fire storm would happen every time you turned it on. So we ordered two new diffuser plates, knowing that our 12 month warranty was up by now, but when I went to install the plates I realized we had a much bigger problem. The whole front of the microwave generator had melted down. We called General Electrics Customer Service Department. Tried to explain to them that this microwave had a very serious design flaw. They basically said to bad, your warranty is up! Well guess what? This is one household that will never buy another GE product.

Pros: Easy to use. Microwaves, grills, browns.
Cons: Just when the warranty was up, ours caught on fire.

Had microwave for little under 2 years. Everyone in the house used it properly & very simple to clean & use. Loved it's features/microwave, brown & grill until today. It started sparking and exploded in my kitchen. It almost burnt my house down. Luckily I was standing right by and could turn it off quickly. Had to toss the GE and drag my 15 year old SHARP dinosaur microwave up from the basement and it is still working.

Pros: NOT TOO EXPENSIVE IF YOU DON'T MIND FIRES.
Cons: FIRE, FIRE, FIRE, FIRE, DON'T BUY THIS UNIT!!

Ours worked fine, until today when it caught fire!! We only used it to warm and defrost, never used the convection oven features. Light bulb burned out within a few months and then for no apparent reason it caught fire today warming some soup in a microwave approved bowl.

Seems to me, if you like fires and sparks, this would be the model to buy! Seriously, this is a very dangerous appliance and should be recalled.