I have the Advantium 120 OTR. It has two trays - the normal glass one for MW, and a black metal one for speedcooking and baking. I don't find the tray storage to be an issue at all. I keep the tray with my baking dishes - when I need the tray, I also need a baking dish. 90% of the time, the glass tray is in the Advantium in my house. I love the option of a second oven for holidays or parties, etc. On Thanksgiving, I hosted 25 people. Cooked a big ol' turkey in the regular oven and a 7 pound turkey breast in the Advantium. Used the Advantium to brown rolls while I sliced the meat. It was wonderful and very convenient. (The whole turkey was baked at a different temp than the breast, and really took up the whole oven since it was so huge.) If you use the glass tray to bake or speedcook, no one will die. You just won't get as good results. I guess you could potentially crack the glass tray too, and have to replace it. Any "regular" glass MW tray will do, so it's not like they'd have to find some weird specialty part. The Advantium does an excellent job with roasting chicken and other poultry. The meat is moist, skin is crisp, and since you don't have to preheat and you have the microwaves, it takes less time. If there are careless people in the house, keep the glass tray in the Advantium unless a responsible cook is actually baking at that moment. The careless (lazy!) folks can use the glass tray and push the 30-second easy-on button to microwave whatever they want.

Somewhere (at least in 2007) there was an application guide on Sharp's website that described various ways the unit could be mounted. That information is worth reading. In my case the cabinet above is 15 inches deep and the amount of the microwave oven that protrudes is about the same as the amount of a nearby Wolf wall oven that overlays its (deeper) cabinet. I recall using a wood spacer at the back to adjust the exact exposure. I see no reason why a 12-inch cabinet won't work; the screws that hold the front up that mount through the cabinet above are less than 12 inches from the wall. If your sheetrock is removed for renovation I would advise adding some blocking back there to maximize the mounting strength. I bought mine from AJ Madison, as I recall, and the only minor issue was a side screw that had stripped its hole leading to a rattle when the unit ran. As I didn't notice this over the year it ran sitting on blocks in my family room until I had mounted the unit for the "final" time, I just pushed some Styrofoam up between the side and the next cabinet wall and eliminated the noise. The unit mounts to a metal panel that is attached to the wall. The shipping carton is cut in a designated way and this helps one position the (heavy) unit so it can hook onto the metal panel. Then it is necessary to fix the front screws that mount in the bottom of the cabinet. Do not try to use these screws to pull up the unit into position. They are strong enough to hold it, but their thread form is not strong enough to work against that weight dynamically. Instead, using books or preferably a cabinet jack (not too expensive if you hunt for it on the web), hold the front up against the cabinet and then insert the screws. Preferably use a bit of heat resistant (non dripping is the point) lube such a NeverSieze. The unit works as expected for a microwave oven. Like most microwave ovens, it loses its clock setting during power drops. The MW manufacturers, like those who manufactured VCRs, should have planned for longer time periods to keep the clock up. (Oh wait; those are the same manufacturers.) I have noticed that sometimes when I set the cook time hurriedly and move on, it turns out to be set way too high. I have learned to double check. It might be some button bounce, once an issue for personal computer on/off buttons, or it might be me. The bottom lighting onto black soapstone is a bit dim for any detail work compared to LED strip lighting, but OK as a nighttime aid. I have a toaster oven on the counter below it. This eventually caused the adhesive that holds on the bottom front trim to release. Use of an automotive emblem neoprene adhesive strip cured that issue, but in general I would recommend that if such positioning is used, the oven door be closed after removing the toast. I certainly wouldn't suggest using the toaster oven as an open broiler below the unit. Otherwise it should be fine. The outlet for its power should be in the cabinet above it. It is best if you provide it its own circuit. The door hinges on the left. Overall, a nice unit for its specific niche. Integration results are best with careful planning. kas

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!

prospect711: Thanks for your reply! I had my eye on the Sharp R-820JS, which is the stainless steel sister of your Sharp! (It sounds like an amazing appliance that pretty much does it all!) I just couldn't figure out how to get the size to work. Having a deeper cabinet is a Very interesting idea! I'm going to show this to DH to see if we can somehow swing it with our Ikea cabinetry. Thanks again! (Love your cabinets and beautiful backsplash!) Luv2Laf: Your photo is Exactly what I wanted it to look like! And right next to the fridge seems like such a perfect spot! If only it had convection too - I was really hoping for a little back up oven to cook and reheat small meals. Hmmm... Thanks so much for your reply, gorgeous photo, and the food for thought! colorfast: Okay, so it seems that the microwave/convection combos, unless they are the very wide OTR type, are pretty deep. I'll stop hunting for one that isn't. (No more wild goose chase!) We were planning on having 15" wide cabinets flanking the fridge on either side as a pantry (floor to almost ceiling height), but, maybe we should make one wider set of cabinets instead, where we can put the microwave/convection oven. I love how you have yours next to a counter. That seems to be an ideal setup to me. As for recessing it into the wall, I think we're out of luck, since the wall backs a stairwell leading to the basement as well as the stairs leading upstairs. I'm not sure that we can mess with that. I will share these ideas with DH. Thank you for your reply!