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Sharp R254
by milmol7
I've had this microwave for 5 years+. I remember choosing it because of some of the specific features - and because it was cheap - my two usual non-scientific shopping criteria! It's never let me down and is still going strong.
Lets get the bad things out of the way first - this is a heavy, unattractive kitchen essential. One ... of the reasons for choosing this microwave was the colour - at the time I had a silver coloured fridge/freezer and a matching washing machine! In the meantime, those have bitten the dust and my microwave is now a bit out of place amongst my other fresh-looking white goods.
The other thing that's bugged me about this microwave over the years is that it's wattage (800W) isn't one of the 'usual' power levels quoted on packets or boxes - so invariably when cooking something from a packet you need to do a bit of a calculation, or trial-and-error to get correct timings for things being fully cooked. This is something to be considered for future microwave purchases as it literally takes *seconds* to work it out! (Writing these reviews is really opening my eyes to what a lazy pedant I am!!)
The instruction booklet has long since vanished so I can't trot out the full spec but the vital statistics are: dimensions: 460x340x300, power: 800W, capacity: 7cu.ft, weight: Heavy.
The door is a pull-open fastening, no button to push, you just pull it open with the full-height integrated handle and push it closed until it clicks. Inside the microwave is a very easily cleaned white interior with a glass turntable mounted loose on a plastic ring. The glass turntable isn't fixed down and comes out to be washed. It can, however sometimes be a bit tricky to get back on the "wheels" of the turntable, which results in some noisy, clunky cooking! The door has a black mesh covering on the interior and a good sized glass panel to see-in through.
To the right hand side are the digital display and all the controls. My other main reason I liked this was that it had buttons for "10 sec" "1min" "10min" ... Blimey, what was that about being a lazy pedant?!! Just imagine - to cook something for 10 minutes I only need to press ONE button ONCE, not the extreme ardour of pressing the "1" and the "0" button one after the other for goodness sake!!! Clearly I failed to think through to the fact that in order to cook something for 15 minutes it would require 6 button presses (1x "10" and 5x "1") as opposed to the two individual digits on a standard keypad! In fact, to my shame, the lack of an actual alternative keypad to input precise times is in fact a drawback of this model.
A little (very slightly) less embarrassing is the fact that I was also seduced by the fact that it had preset buttons to cook certain items - one of which was baked potatoes... "mm, I love baked potatoes" I thought. Press the "baked potato" button, tell it how many potatoes you have in there, use the up/down arrows if they are smaller or larger than average, and hit start. Hey presto, no need for any thinking here. I think I have cooked one - maybe two - baked potatoes in there in five years! The reason being the baked potato setting didn't work - I ended up needing to give it extra time anyway! Pah! The other "one-press" options are for pasta and vegetable cooking.
There are express cook buttons for poultry, beef and pork and express defrost buttons for those meats, you simply punch in the weight of the meat and hit start. I'm sorry to say that those are two other features which swung the deal but have never been used.
These features were obviously intended to sway the easily-swayed *puts hand up enthusiastically*. But it does have a tidy look to the controls panel, and it looks (or looked at the time!) high-tec because the whole of the panel is occupied with a button offering some magic function!
In terms of power this microwave has 5 settings 100% down to 10, although I've only ever had the need to use defrost and full power.
This microwave has never been used as a major cooking device in the house, for example cooking meat, but it has had regular usage for the entire time I've owned it for heating chilled or frozen leftovers, microchips, heating puddings and for cooking veg. I'd say it's had a workout 3 or 4 times a week for every week of it's life. It's performed - and continues to perform - great for everything I've needed it for (apart from the baked potato debacle!) and it really doesn't owe me anything.
In it's day, this microwave was a tip-top looking bit of funky kit, but sadly now it looks what it is - a dated kitchen essential. I feel terribly guilty now towards it for writing this review, it didn't ask for it after all... It has just been sitting there minding it's own business, doing all that's asked of it week-in-week-out for years and years, then along I come joining dooyoo and suddenly it's laid bare and torn to shreds!! Don't worry fella, I won't be replacing you yet, you carry on doing your thing and we could well have many more happy years ahead...
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Argos Value Range White Manual Microwave
by Kantankrus
Yesterday, I found myself in a situation which I guess all dooyoo regulars are very familiar. I was stood waiting for the kettle to boil and gazed around thinking, 'What is there in here I can review?'
Right next to the kettle is my trusty microwave. It sits there in the corner getting occasional use. 'Is it in the dooyoo ... catalogue?' was my first thought and I studied the front to see what make it was. Nope. No clue at all. I pulled it out to look at the back, realising at the same time it needs a good clean. I must say I was quite surprised to find it was Argos Value Range! And yay! It's in the dooyoo catalogue!
When we had our new kitchen fitted about three years ago we spent £1,500 on our rangemaster dual fuel cooker (review of that to come at a later date) so maybe we had run out of funds when it came to buying a microwave?
Or maybe not. What do most people use microwave ovens for? Well obviously I can't speak for anyone else but we use ours for: making porridge, scrambling eggs, jacket potatoes, reheating meals and defrosting. That's it! So an all singing, all dancing microwave would be a) a waste of money and b) a brain strain getting to grips with how to use it.
So the microwave is very basic. Its white with a black glass window. It has two dials on the front and a button at the bottom to open the door. The power button at the top has 5 settings, 120w, 230w which is the defrost setting (you know this as it has what looks like an ice crystal next to it), 385w, 540w and 700w.
The bottom dial is the timer and goes up to 35 minutes.
Inside is the usual glass turntable which can be removed to clean.
The capacity is 17L Height is 26cm, Width is 44cm and Depth is 44cm. Wattage is 1150W
As I said previously, we have had this for about 3 years and up to now is still in good working order. It does everything I need it to do and makes wonderful porridge! It reheats meals within 2 mins and is great for defrosting. The one thing I will mark it down for is the length of time it takes to do jacket potatoes. My old microwave did this in about 7/8 minutes but this microwave takes over 10 mins depending on size of potato. It's quite noisy but as you are not using it for aany length of time, this is not a problem.
When the timer is finished, the microwave gives a loud 'Ping' to alert you.
The microwave is easy to keep clean and a tip I read years ago to clean the inside is to put a bowl of water with lemon juice on the highest heat for a couple of minutes, and any grease is then easily wiped off.
Would I buy this again? Yes! Without a doubt. It's simple to use, good value and does the basic things a microwave should do. If you use your microwave for more than the basics or require more programmes and grill facility, it won't be for you.
It's available to buy from Argos at the value price of £31.99 and I notice the design of the front has changed slightly in the latest Argos book. The black glass window is smaller.
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