I think I posted on another of your threads that I have a 24" Sharp MW drawer and a paneled 30" KA WD. I enjoy having both appliances. I've never used the warming feature on the MW as I have the actual WD and am pretty sure I wouldn't use that feature even if I didn't have a WD. I'm not sure how the warming works on the MW, but I think it must turn itself on and off over and over. This would bother me for two reasons. One, the MW wouldn't be available for use for anything else. Two, and most importantly to me, the noise of the MW cycling on/off would be unpleasant for me. I'm noise sensitive. I don't like hearing my ovens or my MW working. I turn both off as soon as possible to avoid extra noise. The WD is completely silent. In fact, now that I have the ON light covered by my drawer panel, it's almost impossible to tell if it's on or not. Another important difference with my KA WD and MW is the WD's ability to keep moist food moist and crisp food crisp. DH usually doesn't pay attention to this when he plops food in the WD and sometimes ruins the food. Crisp waffles put in a WD on the "moist" setting makes.....well, moist waffles. Yuck. A MW drawer can't distinguish between moist and crisp food. You can accomplish most of the work a WD does with workarounds in other appliances. My Wolf ovens go low enough that they can proof, but I do it in the WD as its a much smaller cavity to heat and is therefore faster and uses less energy. One could heat plates in a regular oven, but you have the size, speed, and energy usage issue again. One of the reasons I bought the KA WD is the slow cook feature, though I have yet to use it. I just plain have never gotten used to crock pot cooking and, frankly, haven't been very impressed with most foods I've eaten from a crock pot. I can do better by cooking the same food other ways. BUT, I would like to try to find and learn a few quality crock pot recipes this summer to lighten my cooking load. As for the MW, I don't cook in it for food nutrition degradation reasons. Any dish, cup, or bowl I've tried to put in it has fit without issue. I appreciate the defrost and melt settings very much. I don't have time to do this for you now, but if you run an Internet search for this site and the name "Plllog" and the words "warming drawer" you'll find a few very informative posts. Plllog is a master at explaining appliances and her posts on WD's helped me decide which models to look for when I was buying. The bottom line is that most warming drawers are basically the same. The few slight differences come in the presence of moist/dry feature, presence of auto off, and the way the sides are constructed for access. It seems as if you've narrowed the features you want, and I agree with your list. I would now look for the best deal you can find on any of those models and buy. That's what I did. I found a great deal on my KA on ebay. I also purchased my MWD as a refurb model on...

I think they are the same size inside - trim is just different. I guess it is which fits into your cabinets the best?

Just measured.... In a regular 3-drawer base, the top of the bottom drawer is 15-1/2" above the floor. The top of the drawer below my MW drawer is 16" above the floor. So, the drawer is 1/2" deeper than a regular drawer base. However, the drawers themselves are the same size (same height drawer front & box), there's just an extra 1/2" in the opening behind the drawer front. The top of the drawer front is approx 2" above the top of the drawer box in a regular drawer...so there's room for the bigger opening behind it in the drawer under the MW. As to custom vs not, yes, my MW cabinet is one of the 3 Omega Custom cabinets in my kitchen (the rest are Omega Dynasty/Embassy semi-custom cabinets...even the odd-sized 23" wide cabinets are semi-custom). Would I do it again? Honestly, I would still rather have my MW a little above counter-height. However, if I were in the same situation again where my MW had to be under counter, I would definitely buy it again. I think it's a much better design than having a standard MW under counter...ergonomically speaking. Plus, I've been very pleased with its performance...it's much better than the top-of-the-line Amana I had in my old kitchen (sitting on a MW cart)! In particular, the "Sensor" cooking options seem to be more sensitive and most food comes out perfect...from frozen "hard" veggies to frozen "soft" veggies to defrost. The only sensor that overheats the food is the "sensor reheat", but it's closer to right than my old Amana was (i.e., the Amana was even worse.)

My island cabinet is currently being made with a 30" cabinet space for an in-drawer microwave. I have decided to purchase the Sharp black stainless steel product but it only comes in a 24" width. I understand that trim kits are available to adjust for 24 - 30 " but not available for this model. I also have found that there is a "flush mount deflector vent" for this model but I don't understand how this works, how mant I would need, or if it would be the answer to my problem. Appreciate any help I can get.