We bought the GE 1.1 Cu. Ft. Countertop Microwave Oven (JES1139WL) out of desperation. Our older countertop microwave had finally died. With two young children and two working adults in the family, we used our microwave daily to help cut down on meal preparation times and for fixing snacks for the kids. So we needed to replace our microwave, fast. Unfortunately we were limited, budget wise, as to what we could afford right then and there, so we picked up the GE 1.1 Cu. Ft. Countertop Microwave, which at only $99.00 was manageable.

I'll say this for the GE 1.1, it works. It doesn't work well mind you, the oven space is extremely limited, the rotating turntable tends to jump its track very easily construction is flimsy in that if you put something heavy - or even remotely heavy - on the top of the microwave, you will not be able to close or open the door, but it will microwave a cup of water or a microwave dinner or defrost things for you with no problem. Just don't ask it to cook or defrost too much, for at 1,100 Watts, it takes a good bit of time to cook through dense items, or to cook more than a handful of nuggets or taquitas at once.

The GE 1.1 comes with all the bells and whistles you would expect. It has convenience cooking controls with little pictograms so you can heat up a slice of pizza, pop popcorn or heat up a drink just by pushing the corresponding button. It has an automatic and time defrost feature so you don't have to leave your meat or other items to defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Though anything larger than a 4 lb. turkey breast might get stuck in the cramped oven space. It has an instant on control which means that if you press the number pad the microwave will immediately begin cooking without your having to press start, which is convenient if you have a problem with moving your finger over an inch to press start. It even has a control lockout feature, which lets you lock the keypad to prevent accidental activation - which is good if you have small children - but a pain if an adult goes to use it and doesn't have the code to unlock it, which is why we don't make use of that option, but simply keep the microwave up out of the children's reach.

But in spite of its flimsy construction, the GE 1.1 will do in a pinch, which is why, when we upgraded, we gave it to our niece, who was going to college.