Hi Sherry. Info about the APO's maladies and causes soon. Both the microwave and the toaster were purchased based on price. The old microwave was 1.4 cuft, and the new one 0.9 cuft and made by Black & Decker. It's smaller and less powerful but it's quite satisfactory. The current toaster is a Lofter Long Slot (need that because most of our bread is from the bread machine), while the old one was a Breville and vastly superior. The thing is that DH was unwilling to use the APO; and I find that I now use the Lofter for toast. I have always wanted a toaster like I grew up with (pre-cursor to toaster ovens), but have not yet figured out how to use the APO for toasted cheese.
I definitely vote for the APO.