Product review (5 stars): I didn't change the filter for like three years because I didn't know you were supposed ...
I remember when I was a little kid, I always grew up drinking water straight out of the tap.  Well, to be honest, I drank mostly juice and soda, but when I did drink water, it came right out of the tap.  I wonder if it was just my parents upbringing, but we really didn't consume any water until I was a teenager.  Anyhow, when I did get into high school, my parents bought one of those stand alone water filters and we would buy the water in "bulk" big containers from BJ's Wholesale club.  We never had a fridge that dispensed water on its own.  When I moved away, my fridge had a water dispenser so I naturally started using it.  Grossly, I didn't change the filter for like three years because I didn't know you were supposed to change it!
Now that I have kids, I routinely change the water filter every six months.  With that being said, water filters are pretty darn expensive!  I'm always looking for a clean, cheaper, alternative than buying directly from the expensive fridge manufacturer.
I have PH strips to test my water.  I installed this ge mwf smart water compatible water filter pretty easily.  Unscrew your old one, but in the new one, and run several gallons of water through the fridge to ensure there are no water bubbles in there.  Oh ya, I forgot, I did soak the filter in the sink for say 20 minutes before installing it... I wasn't really counting the time.  The PH is reading good, and the water tastes good, so I'm happy with hit.
I did receive this aqua blue ge mwf smart water compatible water filter at a discount in return for my honest and unbiased opinion and review of the product.  I used the product several times before writing a review to ensure that my review would be helpful and unbiased off of a one time use of the product.