Product review (5 stars): Saves Money In the Long Run
If you are looking to invest in a great ice maker this is an excellent option. This portable ice maker is about the size of my breadmaker and sits easily on the end of my kitchen counter. You have to make sure the air outlet is 8-10 inches away from the nearest wall or object. This is easy to do if you place this on the end of a counter.

What I like about this particular ice maker is that you can watch the entire process of ice making through a see-through window. What happens is the ice is made in a little tray. The water is put under the ice basket and is sucked up into the ice tray. The ice forms around metal and is then released into the ice basket with a little mechanical shovel.

To fill up the ice basket it takes 77 minutes so one hour and seventeen minutes later you have three large glasses of ice. Once you empty the basket it will then continue to create ice for another fifty six minutes. So to make a gallon bag of ice takes 133 minutes and uses up a little less than two quarts of water. This is actually a lot faster than most freezers produce ice.

I personally like the large sized ice but there is an option for smaller ice too. I noticed that the ice this initially makes tends to be smaller than the ice made a little later. So each time the water is colder and produces bigger ice cubes (well they really look like little hollow thimbles).

Setup is easy once you've read the directions. You simply fill with water and push the start button. Then each batch of ice takes about seven minutes to make. You can use tap water, filtered water or bottled water. Whatever you prefer. The taste of the ice will change with each option. I made some ice with tap water and it tasted OK in a drink.

What you don't want to do is use this to make ice ahead of time. If you put the slightly wet ice cubes in the freezer they do tend to freeze together. It is best to use this as a source of ice that you are going to use on a consistent basis like at a small party where ice is needed for an extended period of time. Remember you are going to get about three large glasses of ice per hour. You can however remove ice for smaller glasses at any time. The hinged lid opens easily and does not restrict taking ice out even if the ice maker is in operation. I would however recommend caution as this does have moving parts. You want to keep your hands only on the ice scoop and take ice directly out of the basket.

So my only real caution would be that this ice maker should be kept away from children. It is not a toy! Even if it feels like it is.

One thing the directions don't state is what to do with the leftover water in the ice tray once the low water indicator comes on. I simply tilted the entire ice maker so the water ran down into the water container. Then I drained out the water leftover by removing the plug while sitting the ice maker over the sink. It was pretty easy. If you were making ice for a party then you would have to refill the water quite a few times over a period of hours. You have to refill the water approximately every 133 minutes. The ice maker will stop once the basket is full. The minute you remove the ice it starts making it again. You could keep extra ice in an ice bucket.

I found this ice maker great fun to use and I loved the shapes of the ice. I made myself some ice tea with the first batch of ice and it was great. I can see myself using this a lot in the summer although this ice maker is not for outside use. You should also keep it out of direct sunlight as that will cause the infared sensor to malfunction. Also this does make a little sound mostly like a fan running. It is fairly quiet. The loudest noise you will hear is when the ice drops and is put into the basket.

~The Rebecca Review

I received one ice maker free for review. This review is my honest opinion.