Panasonic NN-ST34HBQPQ

This is a review for NN-ST34NB (when I type this in, it keeps taking me to this with different letters on the end). I bought the black version yesterday. It works like a microwave should, but my old one was sooo much easier to use. I am unfortunately regretting my purchase for several reasons. 1. It's dark inside, so hard to see inside. 2. The… Read more

writing/numbers on the control panel are hard to see. 3. Most annoying, there's no numerical keypad. Whereas my old Breville microwave, if I wanted 5 mins and 55 secs I just had to press 555. This one I have to press the minute 5 times, the 10 sec button five times and there's no way to get anything that's not an increment of ten seconds. 4. Carrying on from the previous point, if I want to heat something for 25 seconds, I can't! 5. If I wanted to heat something for six minutes in my old microwave I'd just press the number 6 and that's it, one press and the microwave would be on its merry way. On this one if I want to heat something for six minutes, it means six presses of one button, then go, 7 presses in total, compared to one press on my old microwave. 7. The auto defrost function also requires heaps of presses to do anything. It's all little stuff, but would make the experience so much better if it was different. So, things to look for when this microwave chucks it in: numerical keypad most important, white interior (I had already been told that dark interior was bad, but stupidly all the other viable options were also dark inside), easier to see figures on control panel.

Lightweight – Bought to replace a super reliable Sharp 600W microwave of around 20 years old. It’s still going fine, but the turntable’s getting a little lax, so it’s gone to our holiday home. This one is so much lighter. I mean ridiculously light. So light in fact that every time we open the door, the oven dances forward towards us, since the friction… Read more

required to open the door is more than that exerted upon the oven’s base. Annoying?? Yes. I’ve started to get into the habit of using my thumb against the body while the rest of my fingers engage the door handle to get the manoeuvre just right.

Since it’s mounted at around head height, we very nearly found ourselves with an oven in our laps quite a few times in the early days, thanks to this factor.

Whilst it cooks evenly, we can faithfully say that this machine - apparently rated at 800W is absolutely no more powerful than the 600W model it displaced. In fact for some jobs it seems even less so. We primarily use the oven for reheating rather than cooking per se, but for the vast majority of tasks it equates exactly with the old Sharp, despite ostensibly being 33% more powerful.

We use the instant heat feature very regularly. On our old machine all we had to do was press start and it would merrily heat on high for 60 seconds. Reliably. This one doesn’t do that, but instead has a “quick 30” key. This key when pressed is supposed to heat on high for 30 secs. If you want longer you just keep pressing it before you start, and 30 seconds will be added at each press, before you finally press start when you have enough on the clock.

As useful as this function sounds it is not intuitive. To this day the only time this key works is when we don’t want it to. Seriously. I just went over and pressed it happily with nothing in the oven and it worked beautifully. Whenever I put something in the oven and press the key, nothing. Maybe the thing is hexed ... who knows. All I can say is that this would be a mighty fine feature if only it would work when I want it to!

We have not used the Auto Menu feature, so cannot comment on how the preloaded cook options perform.

The oven is easy to clean, the light seems fine, and it’s not too noisy.

Another primary reason we chose this model in particular is that the door has a handle. We try to avoid anything that has auto door releases, or press button releases. More stuff to go wrong. The mechanism is robust, and we’re confident the door will be able to be opened for many years!

At the end of the day it’s a fair stand in, and does what we need it to and no more. Once you’ve mastered that silly lightness it’s OK albeit a little annoying in use. A 3.5 star performer, but we’ll mark up due to no half marks allowed here.

Perfect Affordable Microwave – I got this microwave for more than half a year now, still functioning well and in great condition. Personally, I really love this microwave, the colour (black and silver handle) looks elegant, affordable and does its job very well! Volume (25L) is also perfect for my household use! I would highly recommend this microwave to anyone looking for something affordable and of high quality! Show details ·  1

NICE @ COMPACT – Like the white colour and the door handle instead those push button ones. Looks nice with the design of my son's kitchen, but all microwaves are created equal. Kogan have similar one same design but its in silver. Show details ·  1

Excellent entry level microwave – In terms of value and functionality (for those looking for a budget microwave that still offers relative quality), we are extremely pleased with this model from Panasonic (recently purchased from JB Hi-Fi after our old microwave's turntable stopped working). We typically use our oven and cooktop for most of our cooking, so for simple reheating… Read more ·  1

leftovers and/or frozen meals, this has been perfect for our needs to date (for those customers looking for higher use, power and size should consider other models). Highly recommended for those looking for a brand name while being on a budget.

Very good afordable microwave – This 800w Panasonic microwave is perfect, with the large 25L capacity is really suite to family. It is affordable and quite useful, functions are good, the design is pretty beautiful and the build quality is solid. I bought it from Harvey Norman for a decent price and really happy with it.  Show details ·  1

Perfect microwave – This 800w Panasonic microwave is perfect. It is affordable and quite useful, functions are good, the design is pretty beautiful and the build quality is solid. It has 25L which is a lot larger than the 20L microwaves. Great product after all. I bought it from Harvey Norman for a decent price.  Show details

Does it job perfectly – We got it in white color It does it job perfectly. Sometimes need a bit more time for meals to warm up due to size I believe. Child lock functuion is essential BUT you can’t use quick 30sec preset button for 2nd plate to warm up as it identifies you as a child and locks it.  Show details

this is perfect – So far so good. Very easy and simple to operate. Had a LG before which broke down so found this one online. Cheap on Myer and easy for daily usage. Meets my expectation. Downside is this is a bit smaller unit as my previous one was 30l. Perfect for small family.  Show details

Good Value, Used for 2 Days - OK – I bought this 800W Panasonic NN-ST34HB model microwave oven to replace the Sharp 1200W microwave oven which broke after 6 years. I selected a smaller unit because I use it mostly for warming/heating food & drink; not so much for cooking. The positive: among the cheaper models; Panasonic's pull handle is much better way of opening oven door than… Read more

the Sharp's push button to open door; design looks alright when comparing to Samsung.

The negative: Quick 30 seconds hardly warms food. Smallest time setting in step of 10 seconds only (acceptable as power is low - 800W).

Good budget Microwave – Bought this one a few days ago; so far so good. Very easy to operate and good size for a daily usage e.g heat cold dishes, cook some microwave food etc etc; the down side is there are not many functions on panel for you to select; but given the cost, i wont complain too much about it.  Show details