TOSHIBA EM131A5C-BS Countertop Microwave Ovens 1.2 Cu Ft, 12.4" Removable Turntable Smart Humidity Sensor 12 Auto Menus Mute Function ECO Mode Easy Clean Interior Black Color 1000W

This oven checks ALL of (at least my) microwave wanted-feature boxes.I bought this Toshiba to replace a Panasonic oven that developed an unrepairable fault in its membrane-switch control panel. (You can't avoid membrane switches, unfortunately. They're universal in almost everything at this point. Microwave ovens, stovetops, refrigerators, you name it. They're all membrane switches unless you can afford semi-pro level gear.) I chose Panasonic at the time because I wanted inverter power control, and only Panasonic had it then.Since then, apparently Panasonic's inverter patents have expired. And that is why I was able to find this Toshiba oven, which, while a very little smaller than the one it replaces. hits ALL THREE of my top three most-wanted microwave features:— It has inverter power control instead of just duty-cycling the magnetron to PRETEND to be able to vary its power.— It has moisture-sensor smart cooking and reheating so that you don't HAVE to know how long to cook something for.— And it has AN ACTUAL DOOR HANDLE instead of an unreliable push-button to open the door.I HATE those pushbuttons. They invariably start sticking after a while, and then opening the door becomes a two-hand task, because you need one hand to push the stupid button and one to pull the door open. With the Toshiba, opening the door takes one hand, EVERY time. It's easy, positive, and certain. No more hammering (and swearing) at the button.As a BONUS, the pre-programmed feature that we most commonly used on the old oven, after sensor reheat — sensor-cooking frozen vegetables — is right on the front panel, so now it's two button presses (FRZ VEG, START) instead of eleven. Also, it's extremely quiet.The one minor complaints I have about this Toshiba oven is that it takes a little while to master the feel of its membrane-switch front panel. But face it, you're never going to find a microwave oven that doesn't have membrane-switch controls, unless you buy a commercial-kitchen model that just has two knobs and no fancy features at all.This is about as close as you're ever likely to find to the perfect microwave oven. I salute you, Toshiba.IMPORTANT UPDATE:Pray that you never have a problem with it, because Toshiba outsources their customer service to an outfit called NIDEA. If Nidea decides that your problem requires a return or refund to resolve it, they will send you a document containing instructions for finding and printing your Amazon full invoice via steps that DO NOT EXIST, because their document is YEARS out of date and neither amazon.com, nor the Amazon mobile app, nor the Amazon order confirmation email, looks like that any more. You won't be able to convince them of this. They won't understand. They'll just keep sending you the same instructions that you cannot follow because the links and menus that they tell you to follow physically do not exist.

After 5 years, 1 month, and 3 weeks of daily use, our favorite kitchen appliance has bit the dust. After we stopped crying and said thank you to our dear friend for its years of service, we searched our Amazon purchase history and were elated to see this microwave is still available for purchase. It will be a long two days without it, but we're excited to welcome Toshi Junior to the family.Why are we repurchasing this Toshiba countertop microwave? Until today, it worked perfectly every time, heating food evenly and maintaining its power over the years. It's a nice size. I would consider this full sized (I've never not been able to fit something in it), but it's compact enough to fit on a shelf in our pantry. It's simple to use, the buttons make sense. The glass turntable is nice and easy to clean. The interior never stained even with a certain family member never covering their dish and splattering sauces everywhere on a regular basis. And it's a great value.Highly recommend.Update: The new microwave arrived. I literally clicked "purchase again" from my order history, so we expected to receive the same product. It's slightly different. A little smaller. The handle operates differently (you can't just pull the door open anymore) and the add 30 seconds button doesn't work the same as on the older model. We find this irritating, but if you're not used to the old function, you might not find the new limitation annoying. We still endorse this microwave. It's a good value and it works well. Hopefully this one lasts at least 5 years like the last one did.

Allow me to paint you a story of our time before this microwave.My husband and I have gone through exactly 2 microwaves in our 11 year relationship before landing on this one. Our first was a tiny thing made in 2004 that could barely manage cup o' noodle. It finally died sounding like the cries of a thousand whales back in late 2017. It had a good long life of burnt popcorn and cold reheated food.We went without a microwave because we were dirt broke at the time from finally becoming homeowners (oof our savings), and then my in-laws graced us with their microwave that *they* had gotten as a wedding gift in Canada in.. 1988. I used to say that the microwave was almost as old as I was until we found the manufacturing date was April 1988. Dang, the microwave was now officially one month older than me. Still had to deal with uneven cooking, burnt popcorn or half popped bags, and a defrost function that only seemed to work half the time and literally cook the food the other half. This beast of a microwave is an enigma in the fact that it has somehow survived all these years without even needing anything replaced. Honestly the microwave still "works". I can relate heavily to this microwave.After the last few years of me completely swearing off of trying to make microwave popcorn, my husband complaining about even more burnt popcorn and unpopped kernels at the same time, I finally asked if we could manage to scrape some money together to get an actual working microwave. After much debating, I was tasked with researching a good microwave that was big enough and mostly inexpensive enough. I had heard a bit about this microwave and a few others and ultimately decided on this one. The price was right, the size was perfect, the functionality was great, being able to turn off literally all the beeping was fantastic. Unfortunately the first one we got was mostly DOA and it was really disappointing, especially since I had to move a microwave that I'm sure weighed about 50lbs, I wish I was joking. Amazon took care of the return and replacement real easy and quick, and the new-new microwave came today.The first test was popcorn. Oh boy. Since everyone says "don't use the popcorn button", I definitely didn't. Unfortunately the microwave did burn the bag of popcorn at full power. So, I decided to actually use the popcorn button. I hit the popcorn button twice (setting for a 3oz bag) just to make sure it would have enough time to heat up and pop. Oh boy. I was not prepared for what happened. The popcorn actually popped! And it only took maybe a minute and a half! No burnt popcorn *and* most of the kernels were popped. Our toddler rejoiced that mommy had actually popped a bag of popcorn, "Yay! You did it mommy!"Second, I defrosted a 1lb package of frozen ground beef. Woo, that was a breeze. Set the defrost for the weight and let it go, though it did warm the edges a bit too much but it was quick and didn't cook it like our last microwaves.Third and most terrifying. Before this microwave, I had gotten used to putting a mug of coffee/tea/water/whatever to heat/reheat for a minute or more and it not even being hot-hot. I stuck a mug of water (with a few tapioca pearls in it) in the microwave to test and set it for one minute, after a short time I glanced into the microwave and discovered it was actually boiling. A very loud proclamation of "Oh my god!" rang from myself in the kitchen. I promptly called my husband over to also observe what the mug of water was doing. He also loudly proclaimed "Oh my god!"In short: I can't believe what I used to consider "normal" for a microwave. This one is more than leaps and bounds better than what we "had to just deal with" in a time of penny pinching and saving money. We're finally mostly comfortable and were in desperate need of a good quality microwave.In very short: I love this microwave.