Cheap microwaves in “cheap” shocker

If you’re desperate for dispatches from the white heat of the technological revolution, this is not the blog for you today – but if you want to know whether a Breville microwave is a piece of shit, then boy have you come to the right place.

Is the Breville Solo VMW187 microwave oven a piece of shit?

Yes! Yes, it is!

I’ve just taken back my second one: the first one’s LCD display packed up after eight hours, and the second one’s door-open button jammed after a fortnight. It’s not worth the £50 I paid, let alone the £99 RRP.

Next week I’ll slag off a toaster, or something.

 


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0 responses to “Cheap microwaves in “cheap” shocker”

  1. Hunnymonster

    A microwave eh? We binned ours years ago since we only ever cooked rice in it… Rice cookers, now there’s the white heat of technology! (Actually it isn’t – so don’t go there).

  2. Gary

    We use ours for porridge and veg. Neither of which I eat :)

  3. Hunnymonster

    The amazing thing is when someone finds out you don’t have a microwave, they seem to be stunned into some sort of philanthropy and offer to buy you one.

  4. But this wasn’t a cheap microwave: RRP of £99 is not cheap for what is a very basic bit of kit. In fact, the irony with microwaves is that the mroe you pay, the worse they get.

    The radiation itself is generated by a magnetron (or something), which is solid-state and will last for decades with no maintenance. Which is why manufacturers put as many pieces of prone-to-fail crap on the things as possible: LCD screens, “touch-sensitive” control panels, insanely dense user interfaces that people will get sick of and want to update. Not only that, but then they charge you extra for the things that will shorten the microwave’s life and which you don’t even need. Who ever uses any of the settings except “Full blast” and “Defrost”?

    Get a basic microwave that has a clockwork timer and a door and it’ll last longer than you will.

  5. True. When my wife’s all-singing all-dancing LCD touch-sensitive brushed metal microwave gave out I dug my old Sainsburys £15 micro out of the garage. Clockwork timer, boring white finish, but still going strong.

    Bonus joke: Little Johnny’s big sister is getting married, and he wants to know why she’s going to be wearing a white dress. Dad says, “All kitchen appliances come in white, of course.”