Product review (1 stars): Only buy if you are willing to spend this $ for ONE year of ice cubes.
I bought this at Target last spring and while it wasn't the most perfect product, I was pretty excited about having it.  When people complain about the taste, that's either them not rinsing out the machine initially (which I did) or just using water that isn't the best quality.  I washed mine well a few times with hot soapy water and used water from my Brita water pitcher that I keep in the fridge.  It suggests wasting the first few batches which I did.  The ice tasted fine.

The ice is a very soft ice which is great for just eating alone.  My kids loved it.  They would just want a cup of ice. Pretty funny.  But because the ice is very soft, it melts very quickly, especially in room temp drinks.  But if you use a lot of it, you can get by with not being too bothered by that. It will make a batch about every 12 minutes which was nice.

As a side note, the ice melts while sitting in the unit, it is not cooled in any way. It's just like a cooler sitting in your kitchen.  The warmer your house is, the faster it melts.

The machine is noisy while making ice (it's wasn't as bad as others state though, but then again I'm used to a noisy house with 3 kids. lol.), which I did not mind, but the machine also makes other noises that are not normal...but only after months of having it.  There was enough water, but it sounded like the pump was on it's way out.  I would unplug it for a few days then plug it back in and usually it was better.  Not always though. My husband would tease, it's on it's way out!  I knew it was close.  Not even a year old.

A few months ago, it just stopped freezing the ice cubes.  The machine goes through the motions of making ice, but doesn't actually freeze anything.  What a bummer. So, a year old and now just a worthless piece of junk for $109.00 (luckily it was on sale at Target).  I originally justified the $ by thinking I would use it at parties and for the ice chests on outings, but no you can't.  It just melts too fast and there isn't enough for a party.  I still ended up buying bags of ice for those occasions. Maybe if you bag up this ice then store it in the freezer???

It was an alright machine while it lasted.  It did light up often that there was too much ice when there really wasn't or the right side where the metal sensor was had a few pieces barely touching it and then the left side of the basket was pretty empty.  As others reviewers states though, just knock the ice down so it's evened out and then hold onto the metal sensor for about 20 seconds then it re-triggers it to start making ice again.

The machine is a descent size too. It was difficult to maneuver it around to clean it out. I won't miss dealing with that. I would clean it out every week.  Something else I just remembered.  After about 6 months of running it....all the stickly labels (the warning labels) got moldy (black) on the underside of the lid (cover). I thought how stupid to put something paper in an area with direct moisture contact.  Gross.  I scraped it all off with a razor blade and cleaned it really good.  It would be better to take those off first or they should be covered with contact paper or something. What a dumb idea on Emerson's part.

So, if you are willing to spend the $ for ice for one year, then go for it, but if you expect a machine of that cost to last longer, then look for another one.  I wish the "good" reviews stated how long they had owned it.  Over the year, my machine was probably turned on and making ice about 80% of the time.  I have noticed other machines that look identical to this with different names. I can't help but wonder if they are selling the same crappy machine with new names now. Just do your research.