Comments on: Unitasker Wednesday: Personal microwave

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:33:06 +0000

I may be alone in this, but I thought it would be most convenient to heat up wax – for the waxing that you generally do in the bathroom. I agree that the price is too much, but think it would eliminate that awkward walk from bath to kitchen sans clothes when the was needs to be reheated because it has cooled too much. It would sure be a time saver. Oops, I may have said too much.

By: SKS

SKS — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:29:24 +0000

I think this is a great idea. I have been looking for a way for my husband to have something other that sandwiches everyday. He works in the oilfield and has enough room for a lunch box sized microwave… you can’t find those at walmart! Think about a nice cup of hot chocolate for the construction workers or santa’s outside of stores, there are many uses besides the few shallow minded ones listed above. GREAT IDEA GUYS TWO THUMBS UP!

I do agree they could be a little more reasonable on the price but all and all the working people (the ones that really do physical work in the weather day after day) will love this idea!

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 23:03:43 +0000

Microwaving plastic is bad? Chicken Little lives again.

By: lisa

lisa — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:23:18 +0000

I found this blog thanks to a link from Real Simple. All I want to say is “thank you, thank you, thank you”. the more I read the more I laugh. effin fantastic. more poppin’ less walking in 08, genius.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:13:38 +0000

Vanity bids me inform the no one who cares, that I accidentally sent the pre-edit version of thhe above entry…

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:09:56 +0000

Hey, Hasn’t anyone said the bvious (and apologies if I missed it)? THis giant doodad, cost $129.99 plus shipping (and FWIW all that packing to send it)?

Any of you rich kids priced microwaves lately – big, medium, little?

This is WAY expensive for a little microwave. There are nive small ones for $50 and less at Walmarts. I’ve been shoppng for them lately for my son’s dorm room.

As Mark Trail would say: “What th-??”

What’s more, Americans NEED to walk! Too many of us live in a portable cocoon with all we need within rach already. Those steps add up to HEALTH.

I’ve got a REAL time saver. A portapotty – with a handle, of course! Imagine. No more wasteful trips to the loo! As a matter of fact, suffering from urge incontence for neurological and bladder raasons, I DO have old (qt) yogurt containers in many strategic locatrions for just this purpose. Ah, now how to market it?

Won’t get started for now, on the trend to all-in-one gadgets and apliances. Grrr. (Or “When does a palm pilot manager become a computer become a phone become an entertainment center?” Note order of items may be reversed in the question)

By: Mo

Mo — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:33:01 +0000

Sometimes Snopes gets things wrong, btw! Last I checked, they weren’t a cancer research laboratory (nor were we people supposed to presume ourselves educated on health issues because we’d read our e-mail forwards). But science itself is pretty sure about soft plastics and carcinogens.

http://www.nomorebreastcancer......ogens.html

Microwaves are good for leftovers. If you’re not buying a 2nd nuker, are living solo and/or don’t need to heat large things, what’s the problem with owning a small one? I don’t own one at all, but as a result find myself sautéing leftover penne all too often. Heh.

By: Sophia

Sophia — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 02:28:49 +0000

that snopes page says it’s better to use heat resistance glass, ceramics or stainless steel for heating (scroll to bottom), even though it is an urban legend that heating plastic contains dioxins and causes cancer.

By: David

David — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 09:33:12 +0000

Ah, the “microwaving plastic is bad” urban legend rears it’s head …

http://www.snopes.com/medical/.....lastic.asp

By: pop

pop — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 05:32:29 +0000

If you have this microwave in your cubicle, other suckers are walking all the way to the kitchen to nuke their soup in the microwave will use your microwave as well.
And the bad thing is, they will burn their popcorn, or spoil their soup because they forgot to pick it up while working overtime, and YOU will end up cleaning it up.

Bad idea altogether.Hehe.
I love to browse Sharper Image catalogs…just to see what they’re making to fill our already-overcrowded landfill.Very sharp.

By: dorothy

dorothy — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:56:35 +0000

It’s always unsafe to heat plastic baby bottles in a microwave because the volatile chemicals in most plastics leach into the milk or formula when microwaved, not because the temperature of the liquid might be too hot. Microwaving glass bottles is probably fine, but I can count the number of people I know using glass bottles on the fingers of one hand.

By: Tanya

Tanya — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:54:25 +0000

a small microwave is a wonderful thing. I was hoping to someday have one on the outer side of a kitchen island.

That way, the people who wander into the kitchen to reheat their coffee or make popcorn won’t get in the way of the person who’s making dinner – they can do all that without actually stepping into the kitchen.

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:32:21 +0000

I don’t think my family’s first microwave was much bigger than this! And that one mounted under the counter to save space.

By: David

David — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:27:04 +0000

It’s only unsafe to warm a baby’s bottle in a microwave if you’re too dumb to check the temperature of the milk before giving it to the baby.

Give it a good shake, check the temp, give to baby. Worked just fine for us and our two kids.

By: spark

spark — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 03:59:05 +0000

I have to agree with Gayle on this one. This is not necessarily a unitasker. It is marketed as one, who the heck really does need a “personal microwave”? This description basically says that there is a communal or family microwave somewhere but you can “have your own!” if you want it.

But marketed as a “small space microwave” or “micro-microwave”, it wouldn’t be a unitasker at all. If you’ve ever lived in a teeny tiny studio without a stove, you know the value of a microwave, especially one that doesn’t take up half of the 3 foot long counter space you do have.

Many dorms do not have kitchens for students, some are lucky enough to have a soda machine but nothing else. So a small microwave in the dorm room would be great.

And I second the responses from others, RV, office where no break room exists (yes there are some like that), etc.

I even agree with some of the suggestions from Sharper Image, the pool house or guest house…who’s gonna go to the main house to use the microwave? (Or maybe having a pool/guest house is just acreage clutter?)

I just disagree with the post this week. Maybe you could have a “Poorly-marketed-device-looks-like-a-dumb-idea…
But-if-marketed-differently-the-perspective-changes-
Wednesday-Afternoon-Post”.

By: Kris

Kris — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:21:24 +0000

My first thought was bar (some drinks are better warm), boat, RV, dorm room, hotel room, etc. It could come in handy.

By: Anna N.

Anna N. — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:03:07 +0000

This would be fabulous for a dorm room – dorm shared kitchens are disgusting – or (as someone else mentioned) an office/cubicle in a building without a break room or kitchen. As a portable device, I can see it as useful for anyone who is on the road constantly, truckers, etc.

That’s assuming it works decently well, of course, but the idea is there.

By: popoff

popoff — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:19:38 +0000

Actually it is not a good example for the unitasker, as the microwave is very handy not only for a cooking but also for usuall office processes, like shreding old data cd-r discs or even for the education and entertainment – there are loads of things one may burn, explode , cook and do anything else with using microwave radiation (or whatever it is called) either to learn a really important things or simply just for fun.
In a matter of fact I’ve always wanted to have my own microwave.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:25:21 +0000

I’m a microwave lover too. I was talking to a friend recently who said that he didn’t have one, and I couldn’t believe it. I use mine for everything (oatmeal, hot tea, frozen meals, popcorn, leftovers, defrosting, etc.)

Yes, I know I could cook things in pans, but that dirties a pan. Why not cook it in the same bowl in which I’m going to eat it? I could make tea in a tea kettle and air pop my popcorn, but that would require a tea kettle and a popper, and my tiny apartment has no cupboard space. I could prepare all my own fresh food for every meal, but I’m a law student with no time. I hope there will be time and space for such luxuries later in life, but right now, my microwave is a multi-tasking friend.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:15:06 +0000

@Sairen

We may be the minority, but you’re not alone in your microwave luv. I use mine several times every day–to heat up coffee in the morning, heat up leftovers for lunch, steam fresh or frozen veggies for dinner, defrost meat, make simple prepared noodle dishes (e.g., mac-n-cheese, lipton noodle stuff, etc.)…I even bake things like cornbread and brownies when I’m pinched for time.