FrigidaireEFIC103-AMZ-SC Counter Top Maker with Over-Sized Ice Bucket, Stainless Steel, Self Cleaning Function, Heavy Duty, Stainless

Personally I like these. Frigidaire does not warranty these. They use an aftermarket company that is useless. They last about 3 years before they give up the ghost. It's too bad corporate America won't pay to make products that last any more with nonplastic parts. These are noisy, but I like them because I hate moony ice cubes that refrigerator freezers make. The moony shaped cubes that fridge freezers make shift and get my drink all over me. I ten times prefer bullet shaped cubes like this. Much cheaper than paying for bags of ice too.

This was a Christmas present to my brother. He is a double leg amputee. He had been asking my other brother to bring him ice every 3 or4 days. He tries to be self-sufficient as much as possible. This allows him to add another task he controls.

As explained below, this machine is unbeatable--for the first 16 months. But now in the 17th, I'm noticing black particles in the water. I clean them out, but they return with the next batch. They're not solid pieces of rubber (as one might expect from a worn-out gasket), but pieces of "mushy" blackness." This machine has been so good, my wife wants to buy another if it performs as well as this for the first year. I'm less certain, esp. if I have to pay more than $100 for such limited use. I'll try to reach the company to see if they've corrected a problem that does not appear to be mechanical but related to bad materials.ORIGINAL REVIEW: My wife has a hip injury and prefers remaining upstairs. She uses ice cubes on a daily basis, and our refigerator is downstairs, where it has been grooming me for my role as the iceman [who] cometh. However, as an individual who is not averse to drinking water at room temperature and, moreover, straight from the bottle, I'm no more a fan of ice cubes than our two cats. Solution: a portable, or "counter-top" (though ours is on the floor) ice maker. My wife deserves the credit for coming up with the idea, and then ordering the machine--the first of two that wimped out on us (I should know--these personal conveniences began to seem heavy after carrying them, a second time, from upstairs to the street curb, where the city disposal team picks them up, unless a private citizen (i.e. scavenger) gets there first.After these two strike-outs, I selected (and paid for) this particular IGloo machine with the LED buttons in a vertical row. I did my "research" (let's be honest and call it by the right word--ie, "shopping"), and I liked what I read about this machine from those whose observations were detailed, specific and realistic (for a hundred bucks you can't expect an arctic miracle machine--it's an "Igloo," not an Ice Palace).After ten months of daily use this particular Igloo is hitting close to 1000-- knocking out ice cubes that are as big, clear and sparkling as they were on the first day. My wife has had me move the machine from her office to the bathroom--where it not only keeps spitting out the cubes but lowers the temperature of the room by 5 degrees. I prefer warm (which fits my "room temperature" taste). But as long as this machine keeps up the good work, I'm not complaining.As far as cleaning, I simply wipe the bottom with a sponge now and then. At this point I have no reason to give the machine less than 5 stars. Perhaps my standards aren't as high as other shoppers, esp. after disposing of the first two machines in the first 2-3 months. But for the nice price, a year's worth of trouble-free service seems reason enough to recommend this small over-achiever. Any ice cubes after the first 12 months will be "gravy" (which I hate--so at the first sign of failure, this iGloo goes to the curb and gets replaced by a new model of the same machine.

So far, this countertop icemaker has been very good to us. It does make ice every six minutes as stated, and is very easy to use and refill the water tank. We have been using filtered water to cut down the scale build-up that we get because of the hard water in our house. The ice cubes are not totally clear, but that is not a problem considering this unit makes soft ice. The unit so far is been extremely reliable, consistent with the ice it makes, and also looks good on the countertop.Since it does not have any type of freezer unit built into it, just keep in mind that the ice at the bottom will eventually start to melt and drip back into the fill tank, this doesn't really seem to be an issue and if we don't use the ice for a fair amount of time, will just take the fresh cubes off the top and dump the old, and it will make new ice automatically once the level goes down. And being that it makes ice every 6 minutes it really doesn't take that long to fill the been back up.PROS:- Makes Ice Fast- Fairly Large Ice Bin and Water Tank- Ice Tastes Great especially when using filtered water- Looks and Fits Well on Standard Countertop- Easy to MaintainCONS:- A bit more noisy than most would like but it only takes a few days to get used to it then you don't really notice it all that much.- Ice will build up at the dispenser point and sometimes not fill the ice bin up all the way. This is a minor irritant and is easily fixed by casually opening the ice bin lid and using the included scoop to knock the ice into the bin.I've looked at a lot of different ice machines and read a lot of different reviews and came to the conclusion that this one seems like it has the best of both worlds, a decent price, and decent performance. So far I have not been disappointed. I would recommend this for anybody that's looking for a cost-effective decent icemaker that will crank out lots of ice 24 seven when needed.