Reviews

2018-06-13-122924In 1987 I purchased my 1st microwave for $350. It was a KENMORE 7218783580 MICROWAVE and it performed flawlessly from 1987 to last week with no issues. No burned out bulbs or anything . . . until last week. A plastic part in the door gave out and made the locking mechanism stop working. The part required to repair the lock is not available and patching up the existing lock did not seem prudent so the hunt for a new microwave was on.After looking at MICROWAVES and REVIEWS on AMAZON.COM (and other sites) I decided upon the PANASONIC NN-SN966S as the replacement for my tried and true KENMORE. I ordered the PANASONIC MICROWAVE, it arrived on TUE-05-JUN, and was put into service TUE PM.PROS:** This is a very nice looking unit** It fits well in the space allocated for a microwave in my kitchen** It cooks food well.CONS:** I dislike having to press a button on the microwave to unlock the door and then open the door as two separate actions.** The stainless steel portions of the face (including the door button and the door handle) show finger and palm prints easily.** The keypad is not a touch pad or a set of mechanical switches, it is a pad of buttons that seem similar to the ones used on some cell phones where there are contacts are under layers of plastic and pressing the contacts together activates the switch. My luck with switches like this has not been good in the past.** Accessing the POWER LEVEL FUNCTION was very inefficient. On my old microwave if you wanted to cook something for 2 minutes at 1/2 power you pressed TIME + 2 + 0 + 0 + POWER + 5 + START.On this new PANASONIC microwave if you want to do the same thing you have to press POWER (100%) + POWER (90%) + POWER (80%) + POWER (70%) + POWER (60%) + POWER (50%) + TIME + 2 + 0 + 0 + STARTOld = 7 buttons vs New = 11 buttons. Old wins. If you want power 2, Old = 7 buttons, New = 12 buttons.This seemed to mean the POWER BUTTON was going to get a lot of use and would probably have issues before the less used buttons on the control panel.** Steam / Condensation appeared inside the door and the inside the time display (please see attached photos, red outlined areas = condensation behind plastic panel)** The interior light was a small LED that did not do an adequate job of illuminating the inside so the cooking process could be monitored through the door (and/or the door tint was to dark).** There are no handles or hand holes on the cabinet to use when lifting this unit.** There seems to be no way to disable the TURNTABLE so if an item cannot rotate freely within the oven, it will hit the walls or slide around on the turntable. This must be the difference between the volume of the interior (2.2 cu ft) and the usable space (1.4 cu ft).SUMMARY:The PANASONIC NN-SN966S is a very nice microwave but (after a bit more checking) I have replaced it with a Kenmore Elite 79399 2.2 cu. ft. Countertop Microwave Oven w/ Inverter - Black (last picture below). The KENMORE is not as highly rated as the PANASONIC and it is a bit more expensive but I believe that it suits my needs better. I will be doing a review on the KENMORE 79399 shortly.

This is an excellent microwave and I highly recommend it. The size and wattage is perfect. This microwave cooks much faster and more throughly than other microwaves. The large interior capacity is great, yet the footprint is smaller than you may perceive. The pictures I've included show the microwave in a standard microwave cabinet. Additionally, the weight is very light-weight for its size. Excellent features for various cooking options. The sensor cooking functions are excellent. I did find I have to time mini and large bags of popcorn for less time than the popcorn built-in settings but that's not a complaint; simply an indication of how efficient this microwave cooks. When I went looking for a new microwave to replace my previous 1000W, smaller size unit, I researched information on various microwaves and determined this was the preferred unit. After using it, I have confirmed my research to be correct; therefore my high recommendation for the microwave. I've had this microwave for two months and assume it'll continue to meet my expectations for a long service life.

Used this model to replace a builtin Jenn-Aire. Wider and shorter in dimensions, but I made it work. Big interior; logical, easy to use, controls. Light inside. Revolving glass turntable. If anyone would like instructions on how I made the additional necessary top/bottom trim parts for $20, just comment.

This item is a replacement for an 18 year old Dacor unit that finally failed. The Dacor was built in above my oven, and had a stainless trim kit around it. The Panasonic unit is superior to the Dacor, and is really well priced. The device works quite well. The inverter technology is an improvement for defrosting. I am hopeful it will last many years.My main reason for reviewing has to do with the trim kit for a retrofit. I ordered the recommended kit through Amazon from Panasonic. It is a lovely kit, but works very poorly as a retrofit to my current cabinet. It is unfortunate, since the kit could have been designed with adjustable mounts. But it is not. So, after some internet searching, I came upon microtrim.com. They make custom fits for any unit. I ordered on a Monday, and the custom kit arrived in 5 working days. It is very easy to install, and works well. Looks just fine. It is not as nice looking as the kit from Panasonic, but at least it fits properly!! I have included a photo.

First, credit where credit is due. I thank all of you that gave fair warning about measure and measure again on the built-in install. I did and the kit install went very well. We replaced a 24 (Yes 24) year old built in microwave. The cavity was there but took creative cutting to make it ready for the Panasonic. The good news is, you don't have to sweat being spot on, but be as precise as you can on your measurements. There's is a little tolerance in the cover snapping in place.As far as function, it turned on and was easily setup. We've only done coffee heat ups and bread warming so far and got less than 24 hours running it, so way too early to to fairly evaluate. Based on what I've read, I guess I should be happy I wasn't one that had an immediate failure, but based on what I've read, I'm not out of the woods for some time. I don't expect 24 years, but 5-10 would be nice!

Love the turn knob for the timer. It has a quieter beep than other microwaves I've owned. It's very large inside.

Got it from Amazon warehouse, so the price was right. Super fast, super quiet microwave. Can defrost ground beef without ruining it and you will have to adjust cooking times down... Best microwave I have ever tried.

I really like this microwave. It looks really nice in our cabinet and heats food up way faster than our last one. I was really impressed with it. I also really love the little knob to select the time. It's unique.

Perfect fit to replace a broken Bosch HMB5050/01. The trim kit matched up, just make you remove the plastic feet if go this route. Mine attaches to the oven below so foot removal is required for all trim mounting holes to line up.

AWESOME! The item was delivered early a lot . Looks so good, we Do like it , just waiting for new microwave stand .

I bought because it fit the 27in cabinet space I needed to fill and I could buy a trim kit. So far so good!!

I love this microwave. It is the first one I've used that heats evenly, no more cold spots in the middle. It also heats very quickly. I wish the quick button went in 15 sec increments instead of 30

Very big microwave. Works great and efficient. Worth the money

It's nice enough for the size and price. A little disappointed that after about 10 seconds time, it goes to 10 second increments. So, for example, you can't do 1:45 for popcorn. You have to choose either 1:40 or 1:50. Small issue maybe but I didn't see a workaround in the manual.And yes, others are correct in that only the font is stainless. The top and sides are painted, and it's obvious.It's on the lower price end at this size though so I'm not too bothered.

Good looking, heats food much faster than our previous microwave!

This is the second Panasonic microwave I’ve bought, last one “lived” just shy of 15 yrs. only issue, it’s taller than the other one was... by a good portion, and doesn’t fit into the prebuilt microwave spot in our cupboards. The copy for this says, just under 11 inches. It’s actually 14” from bottom of the feet to the top (or within 1/8”.) I have a woodshop in my garage...I’ll make it work, just know ahead of time, it’s not 11” high!

i am thrilled with my new microwave oven, and what a great price for such a large one. I was nervous about buying an appliance like this on Amazon because I was worried about it being damaged during delivery. It arrived in perfect condition, though, and works perfectly. I am fortunate to have a good-sized cabinet above my oven (see picture) and wanted to fully utilize the space with a large microwave. Now, with an 16.5" turntable, I don't have to ever worry about whether a casserole dish will fit and turn in my microwave...yay! My daugther helped me unpack and lift it into the cabinet. When I mentioned that I bought it on Amazon, she said "Wait, you got this on Amazon?!!" She had assumed I got it at one of our local big box stores. I couldn't be happier with this purchase.

Replaced my expensive Bosch built in with this - perfect fit, but the door and led display are not high quality. Totally worth the money (saved $500) because we could reuse the trim kit too and the Bosch replacement got horrendous reviews. The door does not line up (sags a bit) and the led display fades in and out.

Purchased this and the 30” trim kit to replace a 10-year old GE Profile built-in unit. Microwave seems to be well made with a fairly straightforward push button control system. The unit was a good replacement that didn’t require too much modification of the cabinet, but the trim kit install was a bit of a challenge to get installed and also to get the spacing right around the microwave unit itself. I’m fairly handy at home repair/refurb and this pushed my patience quite a bit. So far, so good, and the end result was acceptable; factoring in the reasonable overall costs this was a good choice.

Beautiful microwave. Although my previous microwave was the same wattage this one seems to work faster. I also bought a new oven which you will see sitting on top of it.

SIZE is GREAT. But the KEYBOARD requires COPYING a page out of the USER MANUAL to place on top of the microwave - just to choose how to cook a food type. One must PUSH the COOK BUTTON 8 times ! just to cook potatoes. For over 20 years, other microwaves have had an ON-KEYPAD BUTTON for each of many common foods.

The microwave is large and roomy enough to feed a family of 5. The color compliments the rest of my appliances which are stainless steel. The larger microwave makes for easy cleaning. This is the second one purchased. The first one lasted for 10+ years and were hoping this one does the same.

This is my second Panasonic Inverter 2.2cu microwave. The first one was bought in 2010, it got a lot of use, and even though it was still working fine the bottom finish around the rotating ring totally peeled and began rusting. It looked unpleasant and it was difficult to clean because small pieces of white finish would come off every time. Never the less I am very pleased with the microwave and decided to buy the same model. I bought mine at Best Buy where it costs exactly the same as Amazon.One of the things I really like about this microwave that despite its large size it weights only 37 pounds, some other microwave of the same size are much heavier and they are very difficult to bring in or take out when it is time to dispose of them.I like available options for programmable cooking, this version allows for 3 programmed periods. The touch controls are even with the surface of the finish, so the panel is easy to clean. Both the clock and the beeping noise can be turned off if so desired. The inside light is a small LED bulb on the right hand side, it is less bright then the older model but okay. The light comes on when you open the door and it stays on when you cook.The outside size is: 19.44" width x 23.88" depth x 14" height. The inside width is 17.5".The glass turntable is 16.5" in diameter. The microwave needs venting in the back, so it should not be put flush against the wall so it requires a few more inches of depth on the counter.Weight: 37 pounds. The microwave case is made out of metal.The microwave is located 5 feet from a TV and I have no interference between the two.Overall, I am quite pleased with it and had no hesitation that I wanted to buy the same model as before.Ali Julia review

I have had this microwave for a little over a year now. I've had zero problems with it--I love using it! We have a family of 6--4 kids at home. We use this every day, many times a day--boiling water, popping popcorn, melting butter, reheating leftovers (it's great at this--I just hit 'sensor reheat', it's magical!), heating rice sacks, defrosting frozen meat (it's awesome at this too!). You name it. It gets heavy use, but we keep it clean. Always cover food, wipe up any splatters immediately, etc. I hate a gross microwave.This thing looks beautiful and functions beautifully.I would choose the knob again over the keypad every day of the week--it's the best! IMO, it's much easier than a keypad, and fun and easy to use.Sorry some people seem to have had bad reviews here. I can't speak to customer service, as I've had no encounter with them. I've loved this microwave from day one.