Review on 🍳 Panasonic NN-SN966S Stainless Steel Microwave Oven: Inverter Technology, Genius Sensor, 2.2 Cubic Foot, 1250W by Michael Mendoza

2018-06-13-122924 In 1987 I bought my first microwave for $350. It was a KENMORE 7218783580 microwave oven and it has worked flawlessly from 1987 to the last week. No blown bulbs or anything like that. . . until last week. The plastic part in the door failed and the locking mechanism stopped working. A part needed to repair the lock is not available, and repairing the existing lock did not seem prudent, so the search for a new microwave began. NN-SN966S as a replacement for my trusty KENMORE. I ordered a PANASONIC MICROWAVE, it came on TUE. JUNE 05 and went live TUESDAY EVENING. PROS:** It's a very nice machine** It fits nicely in my microwave range in the kitchen* * It cooks food well. CONS:** I don't like pushing the button on my microwave to unlock the door and then opening the door in two separate steps.** The stainless steel front panel parts (including the door knob and door handle) easily show fingerprints and handprints . ** The keyboard is not a touchpad or a set of mechanical switches, but rather a set of buttons that look similar to those used in some cell phones where the pins are under layers. made of plastic and pressing the contacts together activates the switch. I've had bad luck with these switches before.** Accessing the POWER LEVEL FUNCTION was very inefficient. If you wanted to cook something in my old microwave at 1/2 power for 2 minutes, you would press TIME + 2 + 0 + 0 + POWER + 5 + START. If you want to do the same in this new PANASONIC microwave oven, you have to press POWER (100%) + POWER (90%) + POWER (80%) + POWER (70%) + POWER (60%) + POWER (50%) + TIME + 2 + 0 + 0 + START Alt = 7 keys vs. New = 11 keys. Old victories. If you want Power 2 then Old = 7 buttons, New = 12 buttons. This seemed to mean that the POWER BUTTON would be used a lot and would likely have problems ahead of the lesser used buttons on the panel. **Steam/condensation appeared in the door and time display (see attached photos, areas circled in red = condensation behind the plastic trim)** The interior light was a small LED that did not do the job of illuminating the interior, so the cooking process could be observed through the door (and/or the tint of the door was too dark).** There are no handles or finger holes on the cabinet that could be used to lift this appliance.** If the item cannot move freely in the oven turn, it hits the walls or slips on the turntable. It must be the difference between internal volume (2.2 cubic feet) and usable space (1.4 cubic feet). SUMMARY: The PANASONIC NN-SN966S is a very good microwave, but (after a bit of testing) I replaced it. with Kenmore Elite 79399 2.2cc ft. Table Top Inverter Microwave Oven - Black (last picture below). KENMORE is not rated as highly as PANASONIC and is a bit more expensive, but I find it better suits my needs. In the near future I will review the KENMORE 79399.