After 20 plus years of faithful service, our microwave recently died, right in the middle of warming leftovers for dinner, I might add. Very distressing, not to mention inconvenient! Little did I realize that the inconvenience would be the least of my worries.

So, thus began my search for a new microwave. "What's so hard?" you might ask. Or, as my husband put it, "It's a microwave, pick one!" Truly, not as simple as that, believe me. I like to research purchases which I hope will last me a few years, so I began by checking all the usual sources, "Consumer Reports," "Epinions.com," etc.

The first thing I discovered is that stores carry only a limited stock of microwaves on their premises. For more selection, you must search online. This presents a real problem in that the online descriptions tell you clearly what the outside dimensions of the microwave are, but *do not* specify the inside dimensions! Yes, it quotes cubic feet, but as noted in many reviews, this is not always helpful, as the space is not always usable, and frankly, it does not let you know how tall your casserole, with it's lid on, can be, and still fit inside.

Eventually, I found it necessary to visit a store, and armed with my trusty tape measure, I measured the inside and outside dimensions of many microwaves, to get an idea of how much difference there generally is between the two. I really don't understand why it is so difficult to include the extra set of measurements, especially since it must be a well-known fact that people are being forced to shop online for this product. For the record, I noted about a 2.5 to 3 inch difference between the outside height of the microwave and the inside height.

The next problem seems to be reliability. Many sources made note of the fact that even traditionally reliable brands are not "made as well as they used to be." How long should a microwave last? Well, probably not as long as my old one, but certainly longer than the 10 weeks, 1 year, or 2 weeks I read about online in various reviews. Apparently no one brand stands out as being reliable. It is a roll of the dice as to whether or not your microwave will just up and die.

Considering the cost of the product, and the cost of shipping it back if it needs to be returned, I decided that any purchase I made would be through a website associated with a brick and mortar retailer so that a return would not involve shipping the microwave somewhere should a return be necessary.

I am still debating which one to get which risk to take. At this point, having been due diligent about researching my options, it looks like it will truly be a shot in the dark. Wish me luck!

Learn more about this author, PT Jackson.
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