GE 1 4 Cu Ft Countertop Microwave Oven

Delivery via UPS was a nightmare, but the oven more than made up for that. My first impression is that it's bigger than I thought it'd be (I can never envision things when measurements are stated). I thought it would be considerably smaller than my discarded microwave but, in fact, it's bigger. First thing you have to know: The child lock is very easy to disable so do it before it makes you think the door won't open or before it annoys you. One of the customer videos shows how to do this (click the video link then look down the right side of the video section and you'll find it). Second, try it out immediately before tossing the box into your recycling bin. Some reviewers found fault with its performance and if you get one of those lemons, you're going to need the box to send it back. The oven does make noise while it's working so don't let the noise (which is minor) upset you. It's just how it works. Some even complain about the beeps when the food is done cooking. I like the beeps. I can hear them two rooms away (all very open space) and it lets me know when it's time to go back in the kitchen. It's really not very loud, but I could hear it even with the TV on. I thought, at first, it'd be impossible to set cooking time till I saw the button for time cook and saw that it disables those preset time on the 1 thru 6 buttons. It adds one more step to setting the time cook function but I found that it bothers me not at all. Setting the clock is also super easy. I don't know if I'll ever use the special function buttons, but I may try out the popcorn one sometime. Reheat is also interesting. I can attest to the success of microwaving a frozen meal. Worked perfectly. The enclosed instructions said you can adjust the power but I couldn't figure out how to do because the instructions didn't explain that. I asked Rufus and the answer solved my problem. First press the "time cook" button, press the buttons for the time you want to cook, press the power button and then enter the level on the key pad (that's the part Rufus knew that I didn't know), then hit start. Till Rufus said to enter the level on the key pad, I just kept pressing the power button and nothing changed. It stayed at high. I had thought I was going to have to return the oven and reorder it, so I'm giving Rufus a standing ovation for his help. If I had to come up with a complaint it would be the visibility of the buttons. That could just be my problem because my vision isn't great. I solved the problem by putting a small lamp where the light falls on the buttons. It wasn't easy to find an oven with the right wattage and color from a company I can trust, but I have one of the GE Cafe toaster ovens and absolutely love it so I took the plunge after reading reviews for a bunch of other microwave ovens and seeing how few seemed to have low numbers of one-star reviews. Compared to others, this one is a champ. I also narrowed my search to ovens sold by Amazon rather than third party sellers because Amazon is easier to deal with than some third parties are (which I discovered when shopping for both microwaves and computers recently). Overall, I like this microwave more than I liked the Panasonic I had for many years, and I loved that one -- thus, this is a winner. Read more

This microwave is a good quality for the price, and a good size. It's a little noisy, but nothing too terrible. I've had it for 3 weeks with no problems. Read more

So far so good, works well, user friendly, easy to disarm the child double step door lock, great power, priced well Read more

This is our most FAVORITE FAMILY MICROWAVE. The 30 second button & instant minute start is perfect. Disabling the child lock was effortless. Read more

This is a great microwave but the description is incorrect. GE Countertop Microwave Oven 1.7 Cubic Ft. 1,100-watt Capacity is listed at the top of the product page listing but further down under "about this item" description states: COMPACT YET POWERFUL: 1100 watts of power and 1.4 CU. FT. inside allow for effective, efficient cooking while not taking up valuable kitchen space; glass turntable rotates for optimum cooking. Overall, would recommend this brand and this microwave though. Read more

This review is for the new version (GCST14S1WWW), I can't find the differences anywhere, though I suspect the child safety lock is one of them. Note that the photos of the New one are actually of the Old version. The New window grille is painted white and the control buttons are darker as a missing Child Safety Lock instructions page. The old version is only available used. We have only had this oven for a few days, so I can't yet speak to it's longevity, but I can say that the quality of it's construction is okay, not great, but okay. My first experience was deactivating the child safety lock. The instructions in the listing are wrong, the lock is now a physical latch release button (see photos). The instructions say to deactivate it you press in and turn clockwise with a Phillips screwdriver. Be careful! I went too far and the entire button popped out. It looked broken, but was not. It went back in and stayed, it's operation now seems as described. I had initiated a return for this, but cancelled it after thorough testing. (Cancelling a return on Amazon is not easy! Can't do it online, in chat or speaking with the automated voice system, you HAVE to go through a live representative and even she could not cancel the UPS pickup.) The described dimensions are a little misleading. The outer cabinet actually measures 15 1/2" deep with a 3/4" protrusion in the back (see photo), the height is 11 7/8" plus the feet, width is correct at 21 3/4". Inside dimensions are 14 1/8" deep (15" back to the dimple - see photo), 14 5/8" wide (15 1/2" including a side dimple) by 9" high. The turntable is 12 1/2". Operation seems normal, all the functions work and the cook time is about the same as our now 5 year old 1150 watt 1.6 cu ft GE microwave (JES1657DM1WW) that has started to rust inside. You do have to enter the cook time minutes and seconds before selecting a power level, you can't select a power level if you use the quick-entry 1-6 minute time. If we have any problems in the future I will revise this review, but for now we are happy with it. My wife insisted on a white model (including a white door), so we were pretty well stuck with this model. My faith in GE is not great, given the rust problem in our 5-year old one, but I was able to speak to both a parts rep and a service rep about the child safety button, which is neither available nor repairable if truly broken. It works fine and there are no problems other than that federally mandated child safety lock, now fixed, so I'll give it a tentative 5 stars. Read more

Noise level low. Many features, quick 30 seconds, defrost, size large enough to cook larger items. Very pleased. Read more

Microwave looks nice. Probably good GE quality. The child proof lock is annoying as heck. Why do we keep adding more annoying safety features. If a kid touches hot food they learn quick not to touch again. GE is normally very high quality for microwaves. Unfortunately, my unit came used and dented with food still in it. Box was all torn to shreds, no plastic wrap on anything and styrofoam crumbling. Be careful and inspect yours closely. Read more