I've wanted an ice machine for years.  When we built a house in 2000, our builder talked me out of installing one and I regretted it.  We moved and built a new home last year and this Nugget Ice Machine was my splurge.  Our builder installed it with our other appliances and he actually thought I was nuts for getting this. He'd never heard of a nugget ice machine before.   Well, he also installed one in his home after seeing ours!  This little machine makes a lot of ice.  And the ice is just like Sonic Ice.  The machine is a little noisy, but we've gotten used to the noise so we don't notice it anymore.  We are very happy with this ice machine.