20 year old Sharp has failed, bad noise and no heat. Guess it's time for a replacement.

Are the convection / microwave units worth the effort in this smaller size? I think of a microwave as simple heat not cooking, if you know what I mean. Now there are only two of us and an oven seems like a waste of effort for a hat full of food.

Any input would be welcome.

Beware that new microwaves are not up to the quality standards of the older units - at least not the ones I see in the stores. I guess that is to be expected since they cost a fraction of what a good microwave did 15-20 years ago.

Unless you have a special need for convection microwave I would not bother.

Our old microwave was as reliable as a rock for decades until it finally died. I bought a new LG and have had multiple problems with it in short order (bad thermal fuse, bad door switch, and cracked glass platter), but was able to repair myself as shipping costs for warranty repair would have exceeded the value of the microwave.

I suggest buying a microwave from Best Buy or such and getting the extended warranty that allows you to bring the microwave back to the store for repair. I never get extended warranties but I wish I did for my LG microwave.

I don't use a microwave anymore since I got one of the Calphalon Convection Ovens. You can get them after Christmas for $100.

https://www.amazon.com/Calphal...words=calphalon+oven

Convection microwaves are awesome!

If all you need it for is reheating smallish amounts of food go to mallwart and pay less than 40 bucks for a 900watt unit. We have been using the same one for close to 5 years and at 40 bucks its served us well.

And here I was expecting a discussion of tin foil hats...

I agree on the size thing. It seems like a waste to use a full-sized oven to bake two potatoes. I'd like to try a combo microwave/convection oven, but I have to wait until something breaks to talk myself into it.

If you're going the small microwave route, make sure you still pick one out big enough for the dinner plate to fit in it. I've seen that "oops" before.