Panasonic NN-SD681S Countertop/Built-In Microwave with Inverter Technology, 1.2 Cu. ft, 1200W Stainless

It was a solid microwave, it did its job quite well . . . until it caught fire. It’s last day on the job was to reheat an innocuous meal of the Trader Joe variety, which sadly happens more often than I’d care to admit. I paid it no mind as usual until it made an irritated buzzing noise growing in crescendo, which capitulated into an unexpected fire. I pressed stop, panicked internally and gingerly fiddled for the plug to no longer give it any power to burn my house down and banish it out to the rain.If the thing didn’t try to burn my house down I’d give it a 4/5 stars. Since it did try, it gets a 1 star rating and this cautionary tale. I was hoping this was a fluke but reading the other reviews, it was not. I’d never thought to read reviews of products I’ve already bought, but it could have been helpful if I had.

[SEE UPDATE @ END] I LOVE this microwave. I have owned many dozens of them, purchased them for commercial and residential properties, noted their energy consumption, etc. In fact, we were the first people we knew to purchase one of these wondrous devices, a Gaffers and Sattler, in 1974. Friends and family would bring things over to heat up, no-one could believe how fast it was, a marvel. Back in those days you could use metal in them, in fact the cookbook that came with it described how you could wrap items that cooked faster (like the tips of wings of chickens, for example, or bread/rolls when reheating plates of food) with aluminum foil, and poke strategic holes in it, to prevent them from overcooking. I became quite good at it. I still miss that feature. But I digress.I had my doubts about using the dial instead of a number pad, and anticipated seeing if it really cooked more evenly. After several weeks of use I MUCH prefer the dial to a number pad- it takes about two seconds to enter any cooking time with it, actually easier, second nature now. As for cooking times, even though I went from a 1200 watt microwave, so far the overall cooking time at sea level is either about the same or less for most things I’ve tried. Water takes a little longer to boil, but frozen dinners cook in about the same amount of time or less (depending on the proportion and distribution of carbs to fats), with less energy consumption (25-30%). Fantastic.As for even cooking, I’ve long modified cooking instructions because much of the time they don’t produce the best result. For example, if you follow the instructions for Swanson Hungry Man classic fried chicken dinners, the smaller pieces of chicken come out hard as a rock and mostly inedible (that’s when I miss my aluminum foil). In this microwave with reduced cooking time the chicken came out perfect. I’ve noted a lot of items cook more evenly, i.e., at the midway point when you pause and stir the still partially frozen food, like with Stouffer pasta dishes, the pasta is more thawed/less frozen, so less cooking time is needed overall. (Though with some dishes, like Stouffer’s mac and cheese, I like to cook it about twice as long as called for to get it to brown, to have it turn out like mac and cheese from the oven). I do a lot of microwave cooking, e.g., make brownies, corn bread, nut breads, etc. (brownies cooked in microwave muffin pans take about two minutes on high), and this microwave produces better, more even cooking (oftentimes the very center of baked items is still raw, especially if cooked in a cake pan or pie plate; in experimenting with power level, etc., I’ve found this not to be the case with this microwave). Great! I’ve yet to experiment with foods like quiche, chili rellenos, or rice dishes. Added Later: Finally got around to using Defrost, and here is where this microwave REALLY shines. No cycling on and off, and meat evenly defrosted! None of the typical some parts half-cooked, some still frozen business, which can ruin the entire meal. And POPCORN- for the first time ever, no unpopped kernels, not one, without the popcorn being overcooked. Perfect popcorn!Anyway, I love the operation of this (it’s quiet, with a pleasant tone when it finishes, the LED light inside is nice (though it could be brighter), and the green LED display coordinates nicely with my aqua color scheme, the look of it (brushed stainless, classy), and the energy savings. I’m using it in my vintage travel trailer on a separate 15 amp circuit along with my Hessaire evaporative cooler, and I don’t have to turn off the cooler (it only draws 85 watts) when using the microwave, which will be really nice come summer. Couldn’t be happier with this microwave, highest recommendation!P.S. I just read a number of one-star reviews and was shocked at the reported unreliability, the failure rate. I’ve had a Panasonic DVD Recorder that’s worked flawlessly for years now. One review said that Panasonic admits that the microwave doesn’t work on new circuit breakers that employ arc fault detection. I just had my vintage travel trailer rewired, replaced fusebox with new circuit breakers. Don’t know if they employ arc fault detection but the microwave works fine. I’m glad I didn’t read these reviews before buying because I wouldn’t have bought it, and wouldn’t have had the chance to experiment with the inverter technology. I love this thing, I hope it doesn’t fail. Personally, for $100, it’s worth it (to me)- I just hope it lasts at least a year or two. I personally have never had a microwave that malfunctioned, I assumed they were all pretty reliable, apparently not. One would hope Panasonic would correct the problems. FYI, another thing negative reviews report is the fuse blowing. It’s an easy matter to replace, apparently, described in one or more reviews. Anyway if my unit malfunctions or dies I’ll update this review.UPDATE: Stopped working right at 6 month mark. No display, nothing. Didn’t happen while in use, bizarre. Hoped it would last at least a year. Glad I got to try the phenomenal inverter technology, but. I am not mechanically inclined and won’t attempt to see if it’s a fuse, or have repaired, too much trouble. UPDATE #2: Got a new microwave, which didn’t work nearly as well, so decided to tackle changing the fuse myself. To make a long story short, go to the questions and answer section above and type in “fuse”. Up come people’s efforts at changing it- problematic, e.g., the fuse is very hard to find, plus you have to change other components as well. So I say if you can afford to try a $100 experiment to try this marvelous technology, with the distinct possibility of the unit lasting only a few months, go for it. As I said originally I loved what the machine could do. I intend to look for another brand with the inverter technology and a better track record.