I am not usually a heavy microwave user but needed one to use for cooking while my kitchen was being renovated - but didn't want to spend a fortune. This model has a grill function as well as all sorts of other functions so I chose it for this as well as the low price - under fifty pounds.

It has relatively good looks. The console for the controls looks a bit clunky and crowded but otherwise it fits well into any modern kitchen. It is however of very lightweight construction and I found it sometimes moved when I was opening the door, so that is a slight drawback. Another drawback, and about the only other one that I can see, is that it is very noisy in operation, in fact annoyingly noisy, not just slightly noisy.

The instruction book is clear and helps you through the fairly complex task of working out how to use it - I found it a bit confusing at first, so it isn't super simple. There are 3 grill settings and five power settings and also some auto cook settings which enable you to choose specific types of food to cook, from coffee to fish to meet. You can customise how meals are cooked to your own taste but this takes a bit of trial and error - particularly for me who had not really used a microwave much other than to defrost.

I still think that a microwave can't compete with an oven and I have, now my kitchen is ready, gone back to using the oven for most cooking and the microwave for defrosting, reheating and heating milk quickly. However, I think that the fact that it is rather noisy has deterred me from using it rather than its cooking ability because actually microwaves are very energy-efficient and apparently much cheaper to use than conventional cooking methods. It is actually a very good performer and I was impressed, not having expected very much from microwave cooking. Mine hasn't gone rusty either.

I would recommend this microwave to anyone on a budget who needs a microwave to actually cook with, will use all the functions. Anyone who is going to use it a lot though would probably find the noise too much after a while, however.