New Microwave Oven Sharp or LG?

[Mr.T]

"veritas" <veritas@coldmail.com> wrote in message
news:1lAqe.13589$F7.7583@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

My Sharp is 19 years old - and still going strong...

My Panasonic is 22 years old and still going strong. So what?

So what? That's not bad for an electrical appliance!

Agreed. No complaint.
In real dollar terms though, I paid about five or six times what they are
worth now :-(
I bet the new units last at least 3 years or more, on average right?
TCO is then similar or lower, plus possible interest savings on lower
initial outlay.

ie. Things are better now, as with most electronic equipment.

I take it that you agree that you were also satisfied with purchasing a
Sharp MW?

Is it? I'll take your word for it, since I haven't had to open it yet.

MrT.

 

[Mr.T]

"Mark Harriss" <billy@blartco.co.uk> wrote in message
news:42ac34ee$0$258$61c65585@uq-127creek-reader-03.brisbane.pipenetworks.com
..au...

The Real Andy wrote:
I am guessing that the cost to implement V the benifit makes it
unreasonable. Whilst I really have no idea about this, one has to
question the actual benifit. Is it 0.01% increase in performance, or
is it 50% increase?? A square is easy to make...


Here take a look for yourself at paragraph 5 and 6, it's all about
microwave optics. Oh, a cylinder is easier to make than a cube in
sheetmetal too BTW. The pentagonal shape won't be seen unless
manufacturers license it from the paten holders.

You guys are forgetting the REAL reason why they make square chambers rather
than cylindrical ones. The ADVERTISED capacity is larger for the same
external dimensions.
Most people want the exterior to be square, or roughly so. And unfortunately
most people compare size based on advertised cavity volume.

Therefore considerable education needs to be done by any manufacturer
breaking the mould.

MrT.

 

[Chris]

<p19010101@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1118420752.267136.16100@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

I need a new microwave oven to replace the old Panasonic. I have
narrowed down my choice to either Sharp R350J or LG MS-3444DPS but not
sure which one is better (both can be had for around $175).

Links:

http://au.lge.com/md/product/prodcategorylist.do?actType=detail&currPage=1&categoryId=0200040602&parentCategoryId=0200000406&categoryLevel=4&productId=1100000521
http://www.sharp.net.au/catalogue/productinfo.asp?model=R350J

Differences between the two (+ indicates better/extra feature):

Sharp R350J
===========
+ 1200 watts
34 liter
32 cm turntable
+ timer function
healthy menus
+ backlit dot-matrix LCD display (2 lines)
1 year warranty

LG MS-3444DPS
=============
1100 watts
34 liter
+ 36 cm turntable
+ sensor cook/reheat
+ round cavity
aussie menus
segmented LCD display (single line)
+ 2 year warranty

Now questions:
1) is sensor cooking a useful feature or more like a marketing hype?
2) is round cavity a good thing? Sounds good but why no one else does
it?
3) does 1 extra year of warranty matters? I guess they should be quite
reliable nowadays.
4) I've heard Sharp microwave is better than LG in general, true?

I like the look and feel of Sharp, but if sensor cooking and round
cavity found in LG are good/practical features then I would get the LG.

Your thoughts? I welcome your input.

TIA

I bought a Sharp about 18 months ago. Last week the LCD display
disappeared - unit still working though. But I'm a bit pissed off. First
time something has failed on me in a long time. I will get in contact soon
and see if they will still honour the (out of date) warranty.

Cheers.

 

What a bummer, I visited my aunt yesterday and saw her Sharp's LCD is
playing up, lines of dots mssing in the middle. Hers is the same series
as the one I bought except that it's an older revision. The LCD module
looks pretty much the same though. My mom has an older Sharp with VFD
display and still works fine. Maybe it is a wide spread problem with
the dot-matrix LCD module or maybe just bad luck.

Please post back what Sharp has to say, it's too late for me but at
least it may help other potential buyers.



Chris wrote:

p19010101@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1118420752.267136.16100@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I need a new microwave oven to replace the old Panasonic. I have
narrowed down my choice to either Sharp R350J or LG MS-3444DPS but not
sure which one is better (both can be had for around $175).

Links:

http://au.lge.com/md/product/prodcategorylist.do?actType=detail&currPage=1&categoryId=0200040602&parentCategoryId=0200000406&categoryLevel=4&productId=1100000521
http://www.sharp.net.au/catalogue/productinfo.asp?model=R350J

Differences between the two (+ indicates better/extra feature):

Sharp R350J
===========
+ 1200 watts
34 liter
32 cm turntable
+ timer function
healthy menus
+ backlit dot-matrix LCD display (2 lines)
1 year warranty

LG MS-3444DPS
=============
1100 watts
34 liter
+ 36 cm turntable
+ sensor cook/reheat
+ round cavity
aussie menus
segmented LCD display (single line)
+ 2 year warranty

Now questions:
1) is sensor cooking a useful feature or more like a marketing hype?
2) is round cavity a good thing? Sounds good but why no one else does
it?
3) does 1 extra year of warranty matters? I guess they should be quite
reliable nowadays.
4) I've heard Sharp microwave is better than LG in general, true?

I like the look and feel of Sharp, but if sensor cooking and round
cavity found in LG are good/practical features then I would get the LG.

Your thoughts? I welcome your input.

TIA


I bought a Sharp about 18 months ago. Last week the LCD display
disappeared - unit still working though. But I'm a bit pissed off. First
time something has failed on me in a long time. I will get in contact soon
and see if they will still honour the (out of date) warranty.

Cheers.

 

I think LG is advertising the internal capacity of round cavity ovens
as non-rounded ones. Even though technically incorrect but it makes
sense to do so because everyone else is still basing on rectangular
cavity even though the corners can't be used.

A similar scenario is happening among LCD manufacturers. Technically
response time refers to black/white transition, but some manufacturers
advertise grey/grey response time to decieve consumers that their
panels are faster. Actually it makes sense to use the grey/grey
standard because in real life images seldem go from extreme black to
extreme white and back, more often they're from one shade of grey to
another.

Someone needs to standardize the terms so consumers can make informed
buying decisions.

 

I didn't thought of using a VCR-STB combo, currently the NEC is a
standalone unit next to my bed and the only time I turn it on is when I
feel like watching carpenter James cutting holes on the wall using
Mircle Blades. Btw Chef Tony is also quite entertaining. However, they
are just not entertaining enough to justify for a dedicated STB.

I tried googling but there's virtually nothing on round cavity
microwave ovens. Even LG's own website says very little about the
advantage of having a round cavity, easy cleaning is about the only
selling point. If there's any thermal advantage, wouldn't they have
highlighted it using large font and possibly accompanied by a Flash
animation showing how efficiently it works?

Maybe there's untold benefits from a cylindrical interior, or maybe
patent rights prevent others to follow suit. I guess average consumers
would never know until there's some kind official press release.
Somehow I don't have much faith in LG's innovations, like the
direct-drive thing, Fisher & Paykel has it all along but LG claims they
are the first, if I'm not wrong Whirlpool also makes direct-drive
washers.

Now LG has the first plasma with build-in HD tuner, I wonder what's
stopping other manufacturers to integrate a damn digital tuner for a TV
that they sell for thousands of dollars.

 

[Rod Speed]

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1118467669.064768.181100@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

p19010101@yahoo.com wrote:
Thanks for the feedback. Round cavity means instead of a squarish
interior, the side walls are curved around the turntable (like inside a
cylindrical object). I've downloaded the manual but funny that it never
mention the advantages of having a round cavity. I suppose it makes
interior cleaning a bit easier, I don't know what else it's good for.

Peter

The round interior most likely gives the illusion of having more
efficient use of space.
Stuff rotates after all, and with a square cavity you can't really use
the corner space, your biggest item is the diameter from one wall to
the other, not from corner to corner. So having the round interior
might fool some people into thinking the space is more efficent maybe?,
i.e. it's a marketing gimick.

Nope, its easier to get an even distribution
of the microwave energy with a round cavity.

Corse the square one with a turntable may well be uniform enough too.

Most likely it could have been a square
anyway with the same usable diameter.

Fraid not.

 

[Rod Speed]

<p19010101@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1118420752.267136.16100@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

I need a new microwave oven to replace the old Panasonic. I have
narrowed down my choice to either Sharp R350J or LG MS-3444DPS but not
sure which one is better (both can be had for around $175).

Links:
http://au.lge.com/md/product/prodcategorylist.do?actType=detail&currPage=1&categoryId=0200040602&parentCategoryId=0200000406&categoryLevel=4&productId=1100000521
http://www.sharp.net.au/catalogue/productinfo.asp?model=R350J

Differences between the two (+ indicates better/extra feature):

Sharp R350J
===========
+ 1200 watts
34 liter
32 cm turntable
+ timer function
healthy menus
+ backlit dot-matrix LCD display (2 lines)
1 year warranty

LG MS-3444DPS
=============
1100 watts
34 liter
+ 36 cm turntable
+ sensor cook/reheat
+ round cavity
aussie menus
segmented LCD display (single line)
+ 2 year warranty

Now questions:
1) is sensor cooking a useful feature or more like a marketing hype?

It is for some cooking, it senses when its time to stop rather than
doing it entirely on time, and having to adjust the time after weighing.

2) is round cavity a good thing? Sounds
good but why no one else does it?

In theory it is, in practice it probably doesnt mattter much.

3) does 1 extra year of warranty matters?
I guess they should be quite reliable nowadays.

Someone has just reported a sharp dying outside 1 year and inside 2.

4) I've heard Sharp microwave is better than LG in general, true?

I doubt anyone really knows.

I like the look and feel of Sharp, but if sensor cooking and round
cavity found in LG are good/practical features then I would get the LG.

Your thoughts? I welcome your input.

The other important things are a set of 10 digits for the timer, not
the rather silly system of separate buttons for each digit in the time.
And some food like pies is better with a convection microwave.