[Electronics-Talk] My Microwave Shopping Experience

Sat Nov 5 19:14:08 UTC 2016

Well, for your information, the conventional Magic Chef microwave that I 
purchased at Home Depot for $59.88 is made by the same company that makes 
the $370talking model, and so it most likely shares some of the same 
components and may even be manufactured in the same Chinese factory.  So 
just because the talking model costs six times as much as the comparable 
conventional model does not necessarily mean that it will ultimately prove 
to be more reliable or last longer.    If you shell out $370 for the talking 
model and it bites the dust, you're totally screwed, even if it's still 
covered by the warranty.  That's because in order to get warranty repair, 
you have to carry the unit into an authorized repair shop.  Good luck 
finding one nearby.  This means that you will need someone to drive you 
there to drop it off and again to pick it up once it's fixed.  At least if 
my cheapo microwave dies prematurely, I haven't thrown out a lot of money, 
and I can just buy another one, which would ultimately be less expensive and 
more hassle-free than having it fixed.

Gerald

-----Original Message----- 
From: James Aldrich via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2016 12:47 PM
To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
Cc: James Aldrich
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] My Microwave Shopping Experience

Hi Gerald and all,

I'd rather not have all those features!  My wife is diabetic and she would 
have problems distinguishng markings by touch!  Our talking microwave  has 
lasted us for some time!  Tell us a year from now whether your microwave for 
$59 is working a year or two from now!

Jim

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 5, 2016, at 5:38 AM, Gerald Levy via Electronics-Talk 
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

A few days ago, I posted an announcement on this list that BlindMiceMart had 
the Magic Chef talking microwave oven on sale for $314.49.  By some amazing 
coincidence or maybe just bad luck, that very evening, when I pressed the 
Start key on my 15-year-old Panasonic microwave to reheat some leftover rice 
for dinner, I heard a loud zap like a bolt of lightning, and suddently, 
poof, just like that, this trusty kitchen workhorse went completely dead.  I 
guess some Halloween gremlins must have infiltrated it, and it bit the dust 
forever.  Anyway, because I cannot function well in the kitchen without a 
microwave, I immediately went to work researching a new unit online. 
Fortunately, Home Depot had Magic Chef microwaves on sale, and I was able to 
download and read the PDF manuals for a few models I was interested in from 
their web site.  The following mornig, my sighted lady friend and I and her 
sister, who has been staying with us, proceeded downtown to the Home Depot 
store on 23rd Street in Chelsea, just down the block from Selis Manor, the 
residence for the thblind in front of which a terrorist bomb exploded in 
September.  I figured this particular store had a lot of experience dealing 
with blind customers.  We were greeted by a very helpful salesman who showed 
us the three Magic Chef models I was interested in.  I finally settled on 
the Magic Chef HCD1110B 1.1 cubic foot 1000 watt microwave, which was on 
sale for $59.88.  This model is essentially the conventional equivalent of 
the talking model sold by BlindMiceMart and other merchants.  Although the 
carton was bulky and weighed about 30 pounds, the three of us managed to lug 
it home in the subway.  Really.  I unpacked the carton, placed the new 
microwave on my microwave cart in place of the old one, and plugged it in. 
To my great relief, it beeped immediately to indicate that it was working. 
My lady friend placed tactilemarkers on the Start, Stop,Popcorn, and numpad 
5 and 0 keys, and I’m back in business.  I can easily set the cooking time 
by touch and make microwave popcorn with a single touch of the Popcorn key. 
By repeatedly pressing the Start key, the cooking time can be increased in 
30 second increments up to a maximum of 5 minutes.  So to set the cooking 
time for 3 minutes, all I have to do is press the start button six times. 
What could be easier?  I use my microwave mostly for reheating and cooking 
salmon and TV dinners.  Magic Chef is apparently the house brand for Home 
Depot, and they have a range of models from 0.7 cubic feet to 1.6 cubic 
feet.  All models share the same flat membrane touchpad with similar key 
layouts which can be labeled with tactile markers as desired.  Just out of 
curiosity, I checked the instruction manual for the Magic Chef talking 
microwave and was absolutely shocked at its dearth of features.  Unlike my 
new conventional Magic Chef, which had five one-touch cooking keys 
(beverage, dinner plate, pizza, potato and popcorn), plus four auto cook 
keys and an auto defrost function, the talking Magic Chef has no such 
features.  It just has tactile keys to set the cooking time and clock, and 
that’s about it.  It doesn’t even have a display for the benefit of sighted 
users.  And setting the cooking time on this unit sounds like a royal pain. 
So for $315 on sale and $370 when it isn’t, the Magic Chef talking microwave 
is one of the biggest ripoffs in the blindness products arena.  How can the 
blindness merchats justify selling this model for five times the price of my 
conventional Magic Chef microwave, which has more features and is easier to 
use?  As my experience demonstrates, it is still possible to find a 
reasonably priced microwave with a membrane touchpad that can be made 
accessible with tactile markers. There is no need to spend hundreds of 
dollars for a unit with speech output.  If MCA International Inc., the 
Chinese company that produces kitchen appliances under the Magic Chef brand 
name can make a conventional 1.1 cubic foot model that sells for $60, there 
is absolutely no reason why a talking model of similar size and wattage from 
the same company should cost five or six times as much.  This is pure price 
gouging by the blindness products merchants, plain and simple, and we blind 
consumers need not be taken advantage of.

Gerald

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