Hamilton Beach Microwave, 30L, 3100W, Combination Microwave with Grill, 8 Presets, Defrost Function, Multi-Functional Cooking, 5 Power Settings, Grill Rack, Silver - HB30LS01

I have owned many microwaves over the years. I never could find a combi that was simple to use. At 77 I am not very techy and I hate having to cope with huge instruction books. At last I have a micro combi I can easily use with confidence. It also looks really smart ! I recommend this appliance. Top Marks!!!

Decent capacity. Good m/wave power. Oven and grill work fine. Looks ok, if slightly tacky. So .. truly excellent value, BUT ...We've been spoilt by having Panasonic Dimension 4 combi ovens previously, and these were far more expensive. When last one broke and wanted a cheap one pending bigger decisions re the kitchen, we chose this.Criticisms:Doesn't feel very solid. Eg the Start button feels like it might fail early. Might be wrong and only time will tell.Electronics are cheap to implement and it almost feels that features were intentionally omitted to reflect the price point. Eg, it's not programmable so you can't, say, set 3 minutes at full power followed by 10 min at 50% power. The fan oven only offers a limited range of temperatures. The next setting after 150° is 180°! The combination settings for m/wave and fan oven don't offer any fan oven temperature options - in fact it doesn't even specify what the fan oven temperature setting is! There is no auto sensing so the only so called 'programs' offer a very limited weight setting that you specify.The instruction book leaves several significant questions, such as what utensils to use for the fan oven. (I did find that the top of a frozen pie burned long before the time was up, set at the correct temperature, when placed on the flimsy high rack - the sole accessory supplied - but do I need to put a metal tray on the glass turntable for baking, as I did on the Panasonic?)So, in conclusion, you get what you pay for. It IS good value for the price (hence the 4 stars) but limited in its functionality.

Very good microwave oven

Works well looks lovely .even my husband can use it .

microwave arrived completely smashed and still being charged for it

Just to set the scene, I've had three convection ovens in my life before this, all known brands. I needed a replacement and this was cheap, but seemed ok. It is not ok. I mainly use mine in convection over mode. It loves to beep. Sometimes it beeps randomly.. I think this means it's up to temperature, I really don't know. It beeps when it finishes cooking as you'd expect. The thing is, it will keep beeping every few minutes FOREVER!! Seriously, if you don't get your food out it will just beep forevermore. This is annoying. I've investigated and there doesn't seem to be a way to turn this off, or even turn it down.This annoyance aside, the main issue I have is that they have put the main heating element on the inside of the oven. Normally the heating element is behind the back wall 'mesh' along with the fan. Why does this matter? It matters because things get caught on the element. Even though I was aware that things get caught on it, one day I cooked a pasta meal in a tray (suitable for ovens), which got stuck. I didn't know anything about it until I smelt burning plastic. I ran into the kitchen and opened the door to plumes of dark grey smoke and what was left of the plastic tray (see photos).So, bad, potentially dangerous design in my opinion. I won't be buying another when this ones dies.

Was really looking forward to using this combi microwave and it was manufactured by a long standing reputable company. I liked the design and solid build -stainless steel interior and exterior. It was quite heavy at about 18.5kg. Unfinished, it arrived - box ripped and dent on the outer edge, so returned it without using it. Disappointing🙁 hence the three stars. I think it was a return from another customer.

The power cable is very short less than a metre so had to add an extension to it. Microwave function is fine but not sure that it is accurately heating up to the oven temperatures and could really do with 10 degrees increments (it’s 120, 150, 180, 200, 230). Also no ability to lock the turntable. Not as good as the Samsung it replaced.