Wayne > wrote in message >...
> This probably won't help you in the UK, since I'm unfamiliar with the
> appliances available. However, practically all the microwave ovens in
> the US have a numeric keypad that is capable of selecting cook times from
> 1 second to 99.99 minutes. Only the very tiny inexpensive units seem to
> have rotary timing controls. Many also have "express" cooking buttons
> which provide a variety of automatically selected cooking times and power
> levels.

It's the reverse in the UK....most microwaves don't have a numeric
keypad but just three buttons or a dial. Seems like a major step
backwards, and just a lazy, cheap design as the timers are mainly
digital anyway.

If, for example, we want to set 2mins 30s on our current one it is
just three presses on the keypad. A new microwave would need 5
presses.
In the extreme our keypad can set any time up to 99min59sec with four
key presses...a new one could take 24 key presses.

Could you imagine a car company selling a family car without a
synchromesh gearbox, telling you to double declutch instead?
Or an oven manufacturer selling an oven that you could only set to
50degC increments and nothing inbetween?

So our old microwave may be 13 years old, but it is technologically
more advanced that the rubbish you can buy now. Though most people
under the age of 30 have probably never had the choice to buy a decent
one.

Maybe I should look to see if there are any companies that import US
microwaves....