I just bought an LG over the range. Every one I looked at in their line was 16 7/16". A bit over 16" but closer to what your looking for. I ended up with the convection version and still got 1.7 cu. ft. My kitchen is completely gutted and I did not buy it because of the height, I did it because I had picked out a GE advantium originally and after reading lots of reviews just couldn't bring myself to buy one. The LG line has very good reviews (I am a review freak).

I also went to the showroom to measure what the closest distance was I was comfortable with to my stovetop and I determined it was 21". But for me I do a lot of canning and have very large pots with large jars going in and out daily for months out of the year so those couple of inches make a HUGE differnce to me. This is the first time I will ever have an OTR also, so you may know better than me what the loss of space will do to your every day life.

Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: LG microwaves

Thanks, Kali! I just checked and they do have models that are 16.5 instead of 17.25 which would be helpful. And they are well reviewed.

My appliance store has steered me away from LG and Samsung saying their customer service isn't as good when things go wrong. I get the sense that that might be the case with most of the suppliers though. (unfortunately) That's why despite prefering the LG washer/dryer I went with a Maytag. But for a microwave which isn't as big a purchase I might take a chance on LG!

And the LG LMV1683. is only around $200 so a definite price savings and matches well enough with my Frigidaire range (1.6 cu. ft. Over-the-Range Microwave Oven with 300 CFM Venting System, 1,000 Cooking Watts, 10 Power Levels, Auto Defrost/Reheat and Convertible To Recirculation) http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/LMV1683.html?infoview=reviews#tabs

I have yet to have an issue with my LG stove (thankfully), but I own a TON of Samsung stuff. Washer, Dryer, TV, Laptop, MP3, 2 cell phones, portable speaker, surround sound, and probably a bunch of other stuff I can' remember. The only thing I ever had an issue with was the TV 4 years ago stopped turning on and off. I tried calling the place I bought it (it was within a year of when I bought it). They asked me if I paid the $250 surcharge for the "protection", when I said no, they basically told me I was out of luck and had to buy a new tv. I called Samsung next, they had a guy to my house the next morning. They told me he would be there between 10 and 12 and he actually showed up at 10:30! It was a transistor. He put booties on before he entered my house, fixed the TV, was very polite, and was gone within 25 minutes. He apologized on behalf of Samsung for the faulty transistor and said they knew they had an issue from a supplier and were trying to fix the problem.

My point is, whatever your local store has told you is a lie. I actually did not own most of the other Samsung stuff before the TV thing happened. I bought the washer and dryer after that, the surround sound came later and so on. I have yet to see better customer service from a company, so I imagine they are trying to sell you something that has a better markup.

I don't have any suggestions for your microwave but I just want to echo what Kali said about Samsung service. I had an issue with my freezer drawer slides. I had talked more than once to the so called high end dealer that I bought all my appliances from and they weren't the least bit helpful. I called Samsung customer service and it was the most positive customer service I have ever received. They resolved the issue without charge even though my refrigerator was over a year old by then. Parts needed to be ordered and they followed up with calls on when they would be delivered and when the service man would install them. Everything was done within a week and they called back to check if the issue was resolved satisfactorily.