Convection Microwave

We received our tax return money recently, and didn’t fair too badly. The great majority of it we put towards the home equity loan, but we thought we would spend a portion of it to treat ourselves on a new over-the-range convection microwave oven. At first we were looking at an Amana, but we ended up getting a Maytag convection microwave. Our other applianaces are Amana, but they don’t make a convection. Being that they are the same manufacturer, the Maytag matched very nicely.

Although it’s a bit like programming a nuclear device, it works very well and looks hella sharp. Hanging the thing was quite possibly the worst thing I will ever do, especially since I don’t have to physically go through child birth.

Since our existing cabinet hung too low, we had to replace it with something more appropriate in size. We found an unstained cabinet at the Home Depot that looked very similar. The next step was to find some stain that matched. Since the polyurethane on our existing cabinets had yellowed with age, this didn’t turn out to be as easy as picking up a premixed can from the hardware store. We ended up going to a local paint and stain place and have them try to match the stain. It didn’t turn out perfect, but the average person probably wouldn’t notice unless we pointed it out to them.

Wanda did the staining (sweet), and once it dried our next step was to hang it. Before we could do so, I needed to install a new outlet in the upper cupboard, since the new microwave required the power cord be installed up through the bottom. The outlet turned out well, although I mismeasured where the hole should have been in the cupboard. Fortunately, it still lined up enough to work well.

Once the cupboard was hung and the outlet was installed, it was time to hang the microwave. Long story short – after messing around with paper templates, brackets, stripped and inadequate screws, misaligned holes, and instructions that seemed to be poorly translated to English, we finally got it hung. It looks very nice, and works even better. It was well worth the trouble.

March 13th, 2006  Gadgets, home   Tags: electronics, home, kitchen, microwave, more...

New TV

I’ve been wanting to buy a new TV for several years. We finally went out and bought a 50″ Sony Grand Wega DLP HDTV this weekend, as our big Christmas present. It’s simply amazing. I was surprised to find it only weighed 72lbs! When I picked up the box, I thought the TV was missing because it was so light. I’ve had tube units half the size that weighed as much. The picture is quite impressive, and it has a really nice zoom feature that shows 4:3 video in wide-screen, and it actually looks good! We did a channel scan and it even found some local HDTV content. You can actually see the picture well from very acute angles. It’s the first new TV I’ve had in 7 years.

Now all I need to do is hook our DVD into the TV through the component video ports so I can get progressive scan, and maybe invest in some HDTV programming, the wife permitting, of course. For now, we have it in the entertainment center upstairs because we don’t have anything to set it on downstairs. Once we do, I’ll be able to hook it into my receiver and get some media center with Bose speaker goodness.

November 20th, 2005  Gadgets, Television   Tags: electronics, sony, Television, toys, more...