Nostalgia RMO400RED Retro 0 9 Cubic Foot Microwave

Several people wrote reviews after this product arrived damaged or after this product failed. I ordered it anyway because the price was reasonable, because some of the other reviews were favorable, and because I have grown tired of ugly appliances that are difficult to use [often requiring consultation of the lengthy manual to carry out the simplest task]. The Nostalgia Electrics bright red Microwave Oven arrived safely in what appears to me to be a very sturdy box with an overdose of protective molded foam. Maybe they improved the packing; maybe the folks who got damaged microwaves just got dinged with unusually rough shipping ordered up by the "shipping fairy". I installed this microwave oven on the second shelf of my "coffee stand" kitchen cabinet [a narrow stand alone cabinet that contains my bright yellow FRANCIS FRANCIS! 25-year old Espresso machine on the top shelf]. The bright red of the microwave goes stunningly with the bright yellow of the Espresso machine. Both also have shiny, retro operating knobs and buttons instead of indented in the plastic "soft buttons" to press. Among other uses, I heat milk in the microwave for single cups of Latte. Flip on the Espresso; put half-and-half in a cup, put the cup in the "RetroWave", and turn the knob until 40-sec shows... Press the knob. While the milk is heating and the espresso machine is coming up to 90-degC, load espresso-grind Tanzanian Peaberry in the espresso holder. The warm milk is ready just about the same time as the loaded espresso machine reaches temperature. Foam the warm half-and-half with a bright red Capital battery-powered foamer; pop the cup under the espresso machine... Presto: Latte in a total of less than 2-minutes. So far, I've baked potatoes in the RetroWave... Turn the knob to show 8-minutes, put the potato in a glass dish with cover, press the big shiny knob. I have prepared bacon in the RetroWave... About 4-min for six thick-sliced pieces of bacon. I have cooked fresh-caught Salmon in the microwave and fresh tuna. I have prepared carrots in butter; root veggies in wine sauce; wilted baby spinach in butter and orange sauce; I have even, I shudder to admit, heated frozen dinners in the RetroWave. On most microwaves, setting the time of day is a complicated matter of repeatedly pressing "soft buttons" for AM/PM, then hours, then minutes, etc. With RetroWave, you just press the small shiny ordinary button marked "Clock", then just turn the big shiny knob until - just like turning a clock - you reach the time you want. Then you press the big shiny knob and you are done. Equally easily, you can set the Power of the RetroWave by pressing the small shiny ordinary button marked "Power", then turn the big shiny knob to the power you want, and press. The directions for using this RetroWave are very, very brief. They were intuitive and simple and I must have thrown them away after reading through them. Like all well-designed equipment, figuring out how to do things is easy. I do not, of course, have more than about 1-month of use of my RetroWave. It has exhibited no flaws or problems so far. It is sturdy. It is no more noisy than my old microwave. I do, actually, cook real dishes with a microwave. The controls have been up to such cooking, including brief cooking on high, then using on low power for more prolonged cooking. This includes meatloaf, stuffed peppers, Greek lamb with feta, and Kielbasa with red cabbage. I have not baked with this microwave. Yet. If it unexpectedly fails over within the two years of the Warranty I applied for, I will report that fact on this web site. Until such event, I am please and I highly rate the RetroWave. Read more

Bought ours back in August, and it's performed like a champ. But to give you, dear reader, a better idea of the paces my boyfriend and I have put this microwave through, here's what we use it for in our household: * Reheating leftovers, which is honestly the primary reason we even want to have a microwave * Accidentally melt butter when all we meant to do was soften it, because we forgot to leave the butter out a few hours before a baking project * Intentionally melt butter * Defrosting meat (rarely, because "Wow that microwave did a stellar job of defrosting meat evenly without leaving rubbery, overcooked spots alternating with still-frozen areas" said nobody ever--it's in the nature of how microwaves work) * Making mug brownies (also rarely, must make note to increase frequency because MUG BROWNIES) So it's not like the microwave sees rigorous use. We use it two to three times a day, tops. Things we love about it: * Ease of use. The knob system in particular is genius. If we want to heat something up for ten seconds, we move the dial one click and press. Normal microwaves, you have to push three buttons. It sounds silly, but it makes a difference. If we want to heat something for more than a minute, we just hit the knob (which starts off at 1 minute), and then spin the dial till we get the time we want. A full spin adds 1.5 minutes. Whoops, overspun it? No big deal: just turn the knob counter-clockwise, and the time will decrease in 10-second intervals. It's honestly the ability to decrease the time that's so pleasing: most microwaves, you have to cancel and start it over, or keep a sharp eye and hit the Stop/Cancel button when you need to. * Appearance. It looks super-stylish. Downsides: * Tiny bit of rattling as a consequence of the turntable not rotating very smoothly--but this is a problem with cheap microwaves in general; every microwave I've ever encountered rattles an equivalent amount. Have never tried any of the special modes, have very little interest in doing so. And I recognize that we haven't hit that magical one-year mark yet, and no problems have surfaced. If it ends up biting the dust, I'll update the review. If you're looking for a cute microwave for light duty use, this microwave is a pretty dang sweet value for its money. Read more

UPDATED*** Amazon sent me a replacement and did not have me try to return the original one. Thank you Amazon!!! This one works great and just the darned cutest microwave I ever seen!!! I love it! So far works like a charm. Original review: I was so excited to receive this microwave. Sadly, I tried to use it last night, with a house full of people of course and although everything seemed in working order, it did not heat. I tried multiple settings and even unplugging the unit in an effort to reset it. Did not even warm. Absolutely nothing! Now I have to try to rebox this thing and return it. I am 56 years old. Should be interesting to say the least. I purchased the matching multi-function appliance as well. I guess I will be returning that as well as I will NOT be purchasing another microwave from Nostalgia. Very sad. Read more