Thursday, July 30, 2009

Sharp R426LS 1200-Watt 1-3/5-Cubic-Foot Microwave, Stainless

Product Description

Sharp microwave oven R-426HS stainless family size turntable hide & sleek design 9 sensor cook options, 3 instant action keys,11 power levels, 3 language options.

Amazon.com Product Description
Whether used for lavish entertaining or daily favorites, this family-size, 1200-watt microwave with a 1-3/5-cubic-foot capacity provides an array of convenient features. A generous 14-1/8-inch turntable accommodates a large casserole dish, and its control panel is located behind the oven's door so that it is hidden from view but easy to reach. In addition to its clean and uncluttered design, the unit eliminates the guesswork in setting times and power levels with sensor settings for nine most popular microwaved foods. Its Instant Action keys save time and make microwaving easy--simply touch once for servings up to eight and the oven starts automatically. The unit's five-option defrost feature quickly defrosts meats and poultry by weight with a specific program for each category to ensure excellent, even results, and its Keep Warm Plus function keeps hot foods hot up to 30 minutes after cooking is finished with no loss of food quality. Other convenient features include a seven-digit, two-color lighted display with word prompts, 21 automatic settings, a lighted interior, and a convenient, easy-to-set clock. The microwave measures 21-21/32 by 12-3/8 by 18-7/16 inches.

Customer Reviews

Fabulous Sensor4
Hello,
I purchased this microwave for 2 reasons: greater capacity and high power. The good name of sharp also did affect my decision. After about a week of operating it, I do like it.

The best feature is the fact that it has this great sensor which can tell if and when the food is cooked and stop the oven after that. I tried boiling some rice in it, the sensor adjusted the power levels and cooking time and within 15 minutes flat (or less for one cup of uncooked rice + 2 cups of water) the oven beeped to let me know the rice was done. The rice was cooked perfectly.

After that, I used the sensor "reheat" feature to heat some food from the refrigerator and it worked perfectly each time. The food was evenly heated all over, unlike cheaper microwaves which literally blacken some parts of the food whereas other parts remain ice cold.

The oven however has 2 cons, viz. it is loud and its not very user friendly in operation for certain tasks. Eg: You wont be able to simply put in some food and enter the time and hit the start button. There is a pre-ordained sequence of buttons for doing so. Thankfully, the display is pretty informative, so it tells you what buttons to press and when, so you wont have to refer the manual each time.

But because of the advanced sensor feature, you will find yourself using the sensor based cooking feature most of the time and not the typical way of putting in the food and setting the timer. And the sensor really works. So this more than makes up for the other short coming. And, honestly speaking, taking the guesswork out of setting the timer and the power levels is indeed a great feature for a novice cook like me.

Besides all this, the capacity of this oven is really large. I mean really large. 1.6 cubic feet is more than I can ever use really. But its good to know you have it in case you need it. Also the high power wattage ensures that the food is cooked really fast.

To illustrate the point: my smaller GE microwave would take about 30 minutes to cook the same amount of rice that this microwave takes 15 minutes to do. So the power consumption is pretty much the same if you consider the rate of power used over the duration of time.

Overall, I think it is a pretty good and solid Microwave oven. Good features, sturdy construction and fabulous sensor technology. With the $25 off coupon, I paid $115 for it, which I feel is a good price (after comparing similar models at different stores).

My advise: go for it. Period!

High Tech Cooking5
This is an incredible microwave. I was a bit cynical at first, but having used it for over a year now, I've loved it and I can never go back to those smaller microwave ovens. The sensor cook feature is very neat and despite my initial hesitation, I've come to trust it to do the job, be it making rice or popping corn or just about anything imaginable, it works.

Pros:
* Big, powerful, and spacious.
* Fast operation. Will cook in under half the time for a regular microwave oven. No more waiting.
* Sensor cook. Love it.
* Tons of features and cooking options.
* Did I mention I get a lot of compliments from guests. The oven makes the kitchen look alive. Great look.

Cons:
* Slightly noisy but for a 1200 watt microwave oven, that can be expected.
* The control panel looks complicated and needs some getting used to.

Nice for the price, and looks good too4
When I bought this, I thought I'd wait to write a review after exploring all the features. Now that I've used it for a while, I just realized that Sharp has done just the right thing in designing this microwave. And then there are a couple of things that rob one star from the five I'd otherwise give it. So here are the points.

- Looks nice. I don't like to put this as my first plus point, but it is. My kitchen has a lot of steel and black. So does this, and it fits right in. The face is also very simple.

- Good size. My last mwave was tall and about as wide/deep. I don't think I ever needed that much height. This fits under a cabinet on the counter, and I can still put several cups or a casserole-sized dish, and never miss the excess height. What is here is enough for anything.

- Why haven't I used the control panel? Because, most of the time, I am heating something to some comfort level. Hitting Start adds a minute, even if it's on and counting down. Stop stops the microwave, Stop again will clear the older timer setting. Just that simple. That's pretty much 99% of my usage.

- The control panel is hidden, as it should be. For basic usage, it's overkill to have all those buttons. If Start and Stop work for your other appliances, why not the microwave?

- At the $120 price (with the appropriate housewares discount-of-the-month) this oven is a steal even if you're only going to start and stop microwaving.

- The great sensor everyone is raving about, that's an extra benefit. I would use it to bake potatoes or heat a large thing like a casserole, and from what I read it would do a good job.

- The star-stealer stuff: The plastic packaging is so deep into the microwave's open grooves it never really all comes off. There's plastic film sticking out of some parts and I'll never get it off.

- And, the door sounds really clunky for something that looks this fancy. A softer open would be nice. But this has a fairly loud, hollow "GLINKK" when you open the door. A quality latch that opens softly or sounds less hollow and sharp would transform the feel of this oven.

- If your space is limited, you will notice the front door is really long, since it covers the control panel. Fortunately for me it shares the open space that my fridge doors need in order to open, so I have no issue with that.

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