Sharp R956SLM - Mystery Microwave oven.

Jeepers_Creepers

Old Sharp R959 combi has finally gone kaput. Two door microwave switches and a turntable motor managed to keep it cookin' for a good few years, but now the magnetron has gorn. Was looking for a similarly sized replacement, even the same model - it's great. And came across Sharps' R956 which, on paper, looks to be even better.

Same size - 40L - but slightly more compact body, and much easier/simpler controls. And cheaper.

Except no-one knows about it. Not even Sharp.

What are the chances that someone on here has one?

Harrywayon

https://www.hughes.co.uk/product/kitchen-appliances/cooking/microwaves/sharp/r959slmaa?gclid=CjwKCAjw4KyJBhAbEiwAaAQbE6VanPykllzokMO2ngJHdEt3qFZRkx0xVVgVsXDWEP9gmtTlUWwffxoC0sAQAvD_BwE

Jeepers_Creepers

Thanks Harry.

Yes, that's the one I have, and there's tons of info out there, including numerous reviews. I can confirm it's a cracker.

Hughes also do the R956 - https://www.hughes.co.uk/product/kitchen-appliances/cooking/microwaves/sharp/r956slm?c=831 - which seemingly has a fractionally larger oven, a more powerful microwave output, a more accessible menu system, and more compact external dimensions - as well as being cheaper. I mean - that's a no-brainer, yeah?

Except, I can't help doubting it. And there is no info out there to confirm - Hughes haven't been able to help since there is no evidence of it on Sharp's own website! Sharp have failed to reply to my Qs even tho' they acknowledged receipt of my comm. And there isn't a single review out there!

If the oven is as good as it appears, then it would be selling in droves.

Harrywayon

Seen link does look much better why not buy if you don't like return it.

Additional Information

ASIN	B098WYQHL7
Best Sellers Rank	684,518 in Home & Kitchen (See Top 100 in Home & Kitchen) 343 in Solo Microwaves
Date First Available	17 Mar. 2021 Only a few months old

Harrywayon

3 sold on ebay maybe check buyers feedback
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402978736788?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=402978736788&targetid=1279039639809&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9046086&poi=&campaignid=12126078372&mkgroupid=126586576270&rlsatarget=pla-1279039639809&abcId=9300480&merchantid=9422734&gclid=CjwKCAjw4KyJBhAbEiwAaAQbEzctrNO7ccVDbfzXplfweEuXkzPvbT6gYDHBSjicG7F6vVQHjL-BcBoClHEQAvD_BwE

Harrywayon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4MP6jtxZVU

Jeepers_Creepers

That's fab stuff, Harry!

I hadn't realised you could actually 'search' for specific feedback on eBay, but I've just checked and none of the three purchasers have given any! (Plenty for the R959 model...)

Interesting that it's a recent model tho' - that's quite promising, and I hadn't realised - great detective work

The YouTube link turned out to be interesting - even tho' the link is to my current model. I tried for the R956 on there, and no results for this. But what DID come up were 'air friers'! What's interesting about this is that the R956 ALSO has an 'air frier' feature!

Yes, I guess I could order it and return it if not happy. Don't like doing this, tho', as it seems unfair on them; I usually do a ton of research and then make a decision, but if not even they can give me info, then I guess it's an option.

Thanks Harry - really appreciated.

Jeepers_Creepers

Well, for the dozens of folk PM'ing me for further details on this oven (tho' a glitch has seemingly blocked any of them them from getting through), I went for it The news is good and not-so-good.

Yes, it's a nice oven, and yes it's 'large', and yes it's prettier than the R959, and yes it even tells you the time. But.

The ol' R959 is claimed to be 40 litre volume. An oven-cavity widthxdepthxheight measurement gives 38 litres usable space in reality, so the extra couple of litres is gained from things like that hollow under the TT where the wheels run and stupid stuff like that.

The new R956 - which claims to be 42 litres (wooo!) has an actual usable volume of.... 32 litres. It has a sizeable-but-inaccessible gap above the grill element, and it has a large concave recess on the LH side of the oven (where things could only possibly fit after they've been squeezed into the oven...), and it has space under the TT for the wheels and s***, but the realistic actual usable volume - WxDxH - is 32 litres. It has the same width and depth as the R959, but is around an inch lower in height. Hmm.

That wasn't the deal-breaker that I'd anticipated, tho', since it's still actually tall enough for two layers of racking, and the oven is still wide and deep.

Next blow was that the wonderful series of pre-programmed cooking options shown on the keypad are - for the most part - 'microwave' cooking only. Eg, when it says 'potato', I'd assumed this meant 'jacket' so would turn on the main and micro ovens simultaneously to cook a nicely crisp and brown pot in double-quick time. The R959 does this - select 'jacket', press how many, and 'go'. Brilliant. The R956 just gives you a microwaved potato... :-( Ditto for 'Veg', Fish, Pasta, etc - all bludy microwave settings. Yes, it has this 'sensor' addition which is supposed to detect when the item is done, so no need to weigh it out, for example, but - hell - that's pitiful.

There are only THREE 'proper' pre-prog cooking combinations; 'Cake', 'Pizza' and 'Roast'. Well, whooobedooo - cake and bludy pizza, eh?

Now, that would be a 'return to base' issue, except that the oven allows you to programme three of your own combinations involving micro, grill and convect, so I'm still hopeful that my treasured jackets can be had as before.

It's one of these situations where you want to track down the designers, and kick se7en shades out of them - metaphorically speaking, of course (don't ban me, MSE...). What a load of complex but pretty darned useless features, and what a lack of the main benefits of a 'combi' oven - the nice blend of the heating systems to achieve great results in a fraction of the time.

cdempsey

Hi, I know it's been a while since you posted on this?  I'm wondering how you have got on with the oven?  How did you get on with programming your own combinations? Cheers

Bendy_House

Hi Cd.

Truth is, I haven't even bothered trying... :-)

It's a decent oven, larger than most, and we use it either for microwaving or for fan-ovening, and the only 'combo' I've tried was unimpressive.

The instruction booklet is poor - I literally do not understand their 'combination's, what it involves, and trying to do any of that via the keypad is simply not intuitive at all - the stuff that comes up on the display means now't to me.

This could have been a cracker, and quite possibly in the right hands it is, but I frankly cannot de arrissed to figure it out, especially since I would almost certainly forget how to do it again, so would need to keep looking it up. And not even that helps.

Perhaps I'm being stupid, but if something hasn't been designed 'well', I'd rather spend my time visualising kicking se7en shades out of the designer, than sitting down and working it through.

It DOES microwave well, tho', and it DOES 'fan' well too.

Wish I still had my R959 - now that was a beauty, and very easy to use.

Oh, and it doesn't have an air-fryer feature either...

cdempsey

Thanks for that - sorry are you saying the R956 doesn't have an air fryer I thought it did?