bit-tech Shopping: GE JES1142SJ Countertop Microwave

• Child Lock
• Defrost
• One-Touch Cooking
• Timer

Rating: 2

Time with product: 13 Months

Strengths: Chrome, small (more counter space), disposable (ha).

Weaknesses: Died one month out of warrantee, tiny, triple beep that can't be turned off.

Summary: This was an attractive purchase at Lowes, $89.98. It is chrome finished but really small inside. I figured, great, more counter space and if it only lasts a couple years that's $45 per year. Well they have this timed to perfection. It stopped working at 13 months. You can not get any better than that. They have taken the science of warranty's to the limit. But truthfully I was not that disappointed. It used to antagonize me that there was no way to turn off the triple beep on this thing. Imagine you are up at 6am trying to warm up a cup of yesterdays coffee and you get a very slow, deliberate, and very loud triple beep. I used to stand right next to it and press stop when it got down to about 5 seconds so I wouldn't wake up my wife. Even so there would still be one loud unavoidable beep. Doesn't anyone at GE listen to these things before they put them into production? Why would anyone need three loud beeps. I guess if you were really hearing impaired it would make sense. I went nuts looking through the owners manual and there is no way to turn it off. I kept thinking the whole year, one of these days I'm going to take it apart and cut the wires to that damn speaker. I never got around to it. The last microwave we had you could completely turn off the beeps. This was a painful 13 months and I'm glad it's over. The funniest part of this is that about one month before it died I found an amazingly new and spotlessly clean Kenmore microwave on the side of the road with a sign taped to it saying "works". It's about twice the size of the GE and it's not chrome but all black. I threw it in the van and kept thinking I'm probably going to need this soon. A few weeks later the GE blew. Within 10 minutes of the GE biting the big one I had this Kenmore in place and firing up my next cup of coffee. My wife thought I was a genius (an extremely rare moment). I have reminded her of it several times since then. Now we all love the new one. The beep is so quiet you can barely hear it. I'm sure I could turn the beeps off if I ever get around to downloading the manual. It's huge inside and we use it more because of that. I didn't think I would like the all black color but it's very cool looking and everyone in the family really likes the look. It's a Kenmore Quicktouch. I'm not sure which model it is but this has taught me a lesson. If it costs me an extra $30 a year to have a microwave that doesn't wake everyone in the house up at 6am and have me cringing at each overly loud beep, I will pay it. Or maybe just pick it up on the side of the road. I'm done with GE. Too bad for them because we are in the market for a range, an oven, and a new fridge.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1

Strengths: stylish, easy to use, well built

Weaknesses: LED is a little hard to read

Summary: This model stands out when you go to the store and other microwaves in this price range are plastic and smaller and look cheap. It\\\\\\\'s a reliable brand and soundly beats one of its own models that for $10 less is plastic and nasty. I got mine from Best Buy in town for $95 with tax. Who needs to pay shipping

Rating: 10

Time with product: 5

Strengths: powerful, sleek design, good price.

Weaknesses: None yet.

Summary: We bought this microwave after our old one (from Sharp) stopped working. We usually heat small bowls and regular size dishes, so in terms of size it?s pretty compact. Considering the price, quality and look/design this one seemed to the best for us. We read reviews from other people about the microwave and they were mostly positive, so we decided to get it for ourselves. Now that we have it, I can say that I am completely satisfied with it. Its commands are easy to use and the microwave has numerous pre-set cooking options. It is quite powerful too. Would definitely recommend if you are looking for a good microwave for decent price.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 2 Days

Strengths: stylish design, sleek looks.

Weaknesses: hard to read buttons

Summary: Overall this microwave is pretty good. I bought this microwave about two months ago when it was on sale. Its 1.1 cu. ft. so its reasonably spacious. It has good amount of auto heat timer buttons. I like the child lock out button since I use it to prevent my kids from accidentally starting the oven. The only drawback i can think of is that the writing on top of the buttons can be hard to read sometimes. Also, I wish the stop/cancel button was on top since I always manage to press the stop button instead of start when using the microwave (most other microwaves I used had the start button in the bottom). Other than that, this microwave is good considering the price.

Rating: 8

Time with product:

Strengths: powerful

Weaknesses: none

Summary: I ordered the microwave oven for moving new home.although I just use few of function but it work so well as I expected. just size is a little big for me