I have one from 2006. My brother helped me install it. A bulb blew within a year of buying it and at the time, it was a new machine, and the urban myth was that a service call was needed to replace this inside light and the machine had to be removed and the top had to be opened.... lots of advantium hate was out there. i think they used a bad bulb distributer at the time.

so i didn't bother with the bulb. a few years passed and once again googled "replace advantium bulb" and found that the top vent panel would come off quickly with a couple of screws and i could reach in with the instructions given, take out the bulb, take it to *** (you fill in favorite hardware store), pay a few dollars, replace the bulb. the new one has lasted longer than the original.

the repair was cheap and easy, and we did it ourselves. we are building a new house and wanted a built in advantium but these are about 2K, so went with a regular mw.

I will miss the advantium very much.

here are some praises

1) crisp up fishsticks (cant do in mw) in speed cook mw+halogen heat
2) perfect crispy crust frozen pizza with gooey cheese on top - no rubber crust due to heating element below and above. in speed cook takes about 7-8 min no preheat
3) fast mw for regular stuff like single oatmeal
4) can be a convection oven sans mw function, but some have complained that the whole thing blew when using temps above 400.
5) large size, can make dinner in the summer without heating the kitchen up
6) super efficient appliance cuz no preheating for most things
7) my neighbor renovated her home in 2007 with a cooktop and advantium above, and did not put in an oven at all and does not regret it one bit (though may create weird issue on resale)

other than both the inside, and the over the range bulbs blowing out within the first year (and they were the same size bulb), zero service issues.

very heavily used in my home. gets completely disgusting often cuz teen plus spouse plus me rarely cover our food before using it and things periodically explode, but cleans easily with damp soapy sponge due to smooth stainless interior. No other similar type appliance is in this price range as the OTR advantium, and the more expensive ones like miele and such do not outperform this one.

no disclaimers, i don't work for GE or appliance sales.

just be aware that the stainless steel interior can get very hot whether it's from microwave use or convection. The next person to use it may not realize how hot it is and can burn themselves trying to put something into the microwave because of the metal face/frame once the door is open. This has happened several times at our house. We tend to just use it as a microwave because it takes quite awhile to cool down after convection use. Also, the microwave only has 900watts of power and a small interior. We got this model as a replacement for the much larger/more powerful whirlpool Velos that died the day after it was installed.

Interesting. I've seen quite a few with the stainless. You'd think they would have headed that one off before market.

I wish the sales people knew more both about the appliances themselves and their track record. It's tough when someone is simply trying to sell. It surprises me how little some of these people know. They say the most amazing things. Little interest in their jobs. Or in appliances it seems!

I had an Advantium for about 10 years, and we are in the process of replacing it in our reno with a convection microwave.

We loved the Advantium for frozen prepared items like fish sticks, chicken strips, pizza, poppers, bagel bites. Great for grilled cheese sandwiches. Perfect baked potatoes. During our kids teen years with lots of their friends around snacking me out of house and home, it was wonderful. My husband and I didn't use it near as much once the kids went off to college. IMO, how much you use & like the Advantium will depend on if you use more of the frozen/prepared food items or cook more "from scratch". Mine was over the range with the built in exhaust fan. Hated the fan - it was extremely loud and really did a very poor job venting. The microwave feature was your basic microwave - and we were always pleased with that.

We are replacing it with a KA micro-convection in hopes that I can use that to bake and roast also. I'm especially anxious to get the new range hood -- one that won't drown out all conversation when its running.

My microwave/convection oven is 5 years old--KitchenAid Ultima Cook built in. At the time the Advantium speed coooking technology and Ultima Cook speed cooking were both well rated on the Appliance Forum here (check out that forum and search to find your answers to what are the differences).
I see that Kitchen Aid discontinued Ultima Cook and the replacement suggested is this one linked below....it's $1,000.
I am really happy with our KitchenAid Ultima Cook microwave for all the reasons the first responder up above me mentioned. I have never needed service. I love how it does not heat up the kitchen. I believe the setting that is a combination of microwaving and convection oven is the feature that differentiates these from ovens that can do either microwave OR convection. It makes things crisper, browner, faster. The replacement available if you search for my Ultima Cook is: KitchenAid Architect Series II KHHC2090SSS
2.0 Cu. Ft. Over-the-Range Microwave Oven with 1,200 Cooking Watts, High-Speed & Convection Cooking and TruCapture Ventilation System: Stainless Steel.

Here is a link that might be useful: KitchenAid OTR Architect Series micro/convection combo

I wish I could do a good vent and the micro some place else but due to space constraints it's not possible. My old GE Spacemaker was loud too. I hate that! It's a ridiculous amount of noise these things make. It didn't seem to do a great job either but the vent hookup behind the wall was faulty horrible as we have found out. My folks have a GE and their house smells when cooking and it's loud as the dickens too. Both units have vent to the outside. Theirs even runs directly out the back through the wall, no run.

I would probably venture into speed cook but plan to mostly use it for convection only mode. The baking and roasting features interest me the most. If the quality of that isn't so great, I probably wouldn't use it much so want to steer from claims that don't really deliver. I probably will continue to do microwaving on quick frozen meals. A mix of scratch and frozen foods is what I'm planning for. Economical use of a smaller oven than that on the range.

I'm not sure what I'm paying for with the extra $200+. The other unit I'm looking at is a Whirlpool true convection 1.8 which claims to roast and bake. It has a 4 speed fan. The steaming feature is good for me too.

The Advantium says:

Speedcook; Microwave
Convection Bake
Broil
Warm
Proof
Toast

I'd expect steams too although it isn't mentioned. Sounds all around functional. But could I expect the broil/toast features from any convection microwave anyway? (I don't trust sales people to give me knowledgeable or even honest answers on these things).

http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/GMH6185XVQ.html

So, does the Advantium cooking quality taste better for some reason? Or convection out of one or the other runs about the same? Both will brown nicely. I love browned and crispy foods!

Sadie, why did you choose to go micro/convection this time rather than Advantium?

"No other similar type appliance is in this price range as the OTR advantium, and the more expensive ones like miele and such do not outperform this one."

So this is the bottom line? I will not find great convection cooking with browning and roasting on a convection microwave?

The Whirlpool is about $430. I think the Advantium is running as low as about $200 more at some places. I hate to waste money on cheap products that don't do much or those that under perform on their grand claims. I'll be stuck with it until it dies.

I don't think convection MW's have a lower heating element and the Advantium does. In speed cook, you can set the lower and upper halogen elements separately which is important with frozen pizza and reheating meals that you want a crisp bottom crust. Speed cook mode is MW+halogen heat+convect. there is a third convection mode that does not use microwave and will heat up the oven as someone above mentioned. the panel will warn "hot oven" and will have to cool down before the next use.

I have a convection MW, Whirlpool for about $600 in the new house, but have yet to use it so I'm not sure if you can do this with a convection MW or not. The previous MW's I had pre-date the advantium and did not convect, so I am not really sure what a convection MW can do.

In my old kitchen I had a range with a double oven and ceramic cooktop, and the Advantium with the exhaust fan above that. In my reno I knew I wanted a gas rangetop (never liked the ceramic) which would require better ventilation -- so went with a separate range hood with lots more power than the Advantium exhaust fan ever gave me. I also chose a separate wall oven. I knew I would miss the second oven, so the convection/microwave seemed the way to go. I hope it will give me the results I want when doing quick jobs like baking a pizza, a pan of brownies, or a casserole.