Great microwave....if you can find them for sale..just watch for damage

When my last microwave pooped out I looked around and saw this at a local lowe's, my main stove is also sorely in need of replacement and I wanted something a little more versatile that could do more than just microwave.

This unit can be a convection oven, a grill, a microwave, and can do combination cooking. The unit is pretty large for a microwave because of the extra functions so be sure whatever table you want to set it on is extra deep or at the least doesn't have any bars that may be a hindrance at the back of the table. This one just barely fits on my microwave table because it has bars behind the area where the microwave sits (an open backed table would allow you pull the table away from the wall and let it fit a bit better).

It's a very pretty unit on the outside with the all stainless skin and the controls are nicely laid out and easy to read. The GE allows you to set scroll speed on the LED readout and lets you set beep volume etc, nice little extras if you ask me. The unit comes with a warranty card and a nicely illustrated booklet and laminated cooking card with some cooking tips for some common things you might want to make in it.

Setup:
Not much, remove all the packaging materials and plug it in
Set the clock and choose options such as beep volume and display scroll speed
Install the turntable device
If using microwave put the glass plate inside
If using grill/convection/combination install the metal non stick plate inside

What I think of it:
First of all it looked to me like the box the unit came in was far too flimsy for such an expensive item, it was kind of flimsy cardboard and styrofoam on the sides of the unit, nothing on the top to protect it--the way it was packaged made it very difficult to remove it from the box without destroying the box.

When I opened up the box the top of the unit looked strange to me but I really couldn't tell for sure whether it was supposed to look that way or if it was damaged. When I hefted the microwave into the kitchen I heard something rattling inside, I hoped it was just "inside" where I could find it but there was nothing there, it was internal someplace. I called the place I bought it and they confirmed my suspicions that the top of the microwave was indeed caved in when it was supposed to be flat. I used the microwave for two days because I needed something to cook on and it worked very, very well.

I used the grill function and the combo function with grill/microwave, I cooked a couple of potatoes and pork chops at the same time and it all cooked properly and thoroughly in about a half hour. There is enough room in this unit to do a fair sized turkey and it comes with a special rack that allows you to cook more than one item at a time. I also used the microwave function quite a bit and everything was hot, no cold spots etc. I was a bit annoyed that I had to return it but I didn't want a damaged case and the rattle inside worried me that something my be damaged inside. Of course when I took it back all they had left was the floor model and they didn't have the other Sharp unit that they sell on their internet site for about twenty dollars more. Disappointed I took my refund and walked across the street to home depot. Now I'm glad I did because they had a slightly smaller magic chef unit with the same functions and same wattage for half the price.

To close:
This is a nice microwave it's the largest one with all these functions that I've seen for sale at 1.2 cubic feet. The lower grill element is not exposed as in some products of this type (which might make repair a bigger deal than a unit with an exposed element but also may mean that element lasts longer). When running the unit in grill or convection mode, the outside gets hot so if you've got small children you need to consider keeping it a bit higher out of reach so nobody gets burned. When using the convection or grill mode, the microwave warns you about temperature by beeping when the door opens and displaying HOT on the display. There is also a nice child lockout feature if you've got really young monsters that like to punch buttons.

This was a good unit, I would have kept it if it hadn't of been damaged, GE needs to improve the packaging--I'll bet they get a ton of damaged returns. I really didn't want to spend the money this cost but the extra functions were worth it to me because now I can take several other things off my countertop that performed some of the other functions (like the mini foreman grill and the flavorwave convection oven). I would buy this again but unless you've got a pretty big family you can do better price wise with a smaller unit with the same functions.