Product review (5 stars): It is not only cool but awesome!
When I bought my new house, I got a new refrigerator to go with it. That was three years ago. The freezer is on the bottom with two pull out baskets. It had an ice maker kit that I could add but I did not have the lines installed, and figured I would not use it. Plus, the freezer started having issues less than a year of owning it; it would not defrost and leaked weekly. I repaired that but still was using ice cube trays.

With pull out baskets, if you lay the ice cube tray flat, it might not be flat when you shut the drawer due to clearance or the tray moving when closing. I got used to never really having ice cubes and they were like gold if I needed them. If someone came over and used one and did not fill up the tray, I thought it was the most selfish thing in the world. How can they not see I have just a handful of ice cubes and not fill out the ones that they took? Yes, it was the bad. Plus, the ice cube in the trays are so big, they did not fit in drinks, only glasses. But I became used to it after awhile. Didnt like it, just accepted it.

When I was offered the chance to review this ice maker, I felt like I won the lottery! With the end of a really hot spring and summer around the corner, I could have my own endless supply of ice cubes! No way, it seemed to be to be true. I feared it was going to be too heavy, take up too much room, I figured I was out of luck with ice cubes so I was thinking the worse.

The day it was delivered, I watched it like a hawk arrive. My UPS guy carried it to the door on his front arm only. So the too heavy part was gone. Well, sort of. He is a muscle head. I picked it up and started to open it. I was not that heavy. I already found a place on the counter for my new favorite accessory. I cleaned out the inside with a warm soapy sponge and wiped it out. I then filled it up to the water level line and my daughter and I sat in chairs waiting to see what was going to happen. It does not make that much noise; we were able to talk as it was running, when the first scoop went up to get the first batch of ice cubes, we look like we never saw ice before. As it scooped it in the basket, we both wanted to try one. Not being patient we took them out with the included scooper and placed them in our drinks. We both love the size of them. We used the large ice cube setting. My daughter loved that her straw would go into the underside of the ice cube and was eating them. You would have thought we never saw an ice cube before. When they were done, we placed them in a small white bowl and placed the bowl in the freezer with the scoop. It was sitting flat on the basket. The ice tray was too long and short to lie down but the bowel was tall and had a small footprint, it fit. The next few days we were able to add them to our drinks. I like adding a few to my already bottled cold coffee. Because of the cylinder shape, they go right into the bottle. My daughter does the same with her Vitamin water, adds them into her drink at the top of the bottle.

I have now owned this for several weeks and I run it once I week and it is enough ice for two people. I have noticed the first ice cubes that come out are not as big and cold so I usually scoop them out. I then wait until the others are done, place them in the bowl and put them in the freezer so we can grab them when we need them.

A few things to note: When running the machine, pull it out from the wall and make sure the fan part has great ventilation. I also make sure I don't have a lot running on the same circuit but it has not been an issue. I used to unplug it shortly after use but notice water was still on the bottom. That is to be expected. However, if I leave it plugged in longer, the water recedes and there is not as much.

I don't know how I lived without this thing. It is my favorite gadget in the kitchen now and my daughter always looks forward to making ice cubes now. I have since moved it off the counter and placed it on a kitchen rack I recently added. It looks gorgeous and does not take up much room. If you have owned a bread machine, it is about the same size but more pleasant to look at.

I could not live without this now. It is used weekly and we are so spoiled by having ice cubes we can ice in our bottled drinks and cups.

*I received a sample unit in for reviewing purposes