Great Microwave - Powerful Vent and Bright Lights

This microwave is the best in the LG line because, 1) the intake vent is a single very large opening instead of 2 small holes in other models and has 5 settings from a powerful high down to low, 2) the twin lights are very bright for near perfect lighting of the range instead of the weak single lights other units have, 3) the tray slides from side-to-side as well as around to handle casserole dishes was well as round plates, and 4) the unit was reasonable with its $399 (Black, not stainless) price plus a $25 HomeDepot gift card and free delivery.

I installed this unit myself and if you are installing on an outside wall I recommend venting to the outside. Our house always smelled of whatever was recently cooked before, but now all aromas are limited to the kitchen area.

Additionally, if you vent to the outside I recommend putting the extra effort (actually not that much effort) to vent directly out the back of the unit through the wall rather than up through the upper cabinet and then out. Two reasons, 1) we keep our cooking library in the overhead cabinet and I've seen what happens to that space when its used as a microwave vent, and 2) the straight shot out the back results in a less that 1 foot straight vent path making the vent performance nearly meet its 300 cubic foot/minute rating (its makes a big difference). The down side is installation difficulty, I had to temporarily make a larger hole in the drywall, take a sawsall and cut a portion of the stud that was in the middle of the vent path, and slip and block a horizontal 2x4 header to support the upper portion of the stud, and slip in another horizontal 2x4 to tie to the lower portion of the stud. On the outside of the house, after mounting the microwave, I carefully cut around my pilot hole to expose the venting area, then used a level to measure the actual cutout boundaries. I attached a 3-1/4x10 extension piece to my 3x10 vent and inserted it to determine the best length, the cut off the extension to the perfect length. Planning the installation and careful measuring is very important. The result however was a perfect installation and a very happy wife.

She says the SOFTEN feature works perfectly on butter and the REHEAT and AUTO DEFROST features work equally well.

We did notice this microwave is more powerful than our old Sears Kenmore Microwave (purchased in 1980 and still working today), so we have to cut back on our cooking time estimates.

I bought the extended warranty, but then returned it and I hope the 1 year manufacturers warranty and 10 year magnetron warranty will get me through any infant mortality and long usage periods. I don't expect the kind of service I got from my Kenmore, (28 years so far) based on many discussions I've had with people who have purchased microwaves within the last 10 years, unfortunately, but I so far its doing a great job.