Product review (5 stars): Great ice machine - highly recommended!
I have a Scottsman machine that hasn't had much use and has required frequent service, so when I wanted another unit, I considered Hoshizaki and Manitowoc.  I opted for Hoshizaki because the unit can be easily disassembled from the front when you need to clean/sanitize the unit.  With the Manitowoc, I would have had to pull the unit out and disassemble the outer case.

We have the under a counter and near our dining table (about 3' away) - the unit does not produce excessive heat but does generate some noise.  The noise isn't so loud (for my family) that it interferes with normal conversation, but there's the constant noise of the pump and fans.  On occasion, we'll shut the unit off while we have dinner (mostly when we have guests).  You just have to remember to turn the unit back on.

I've had the unit for about a year and a half - no issues, makes tons of ice very quickly (I hardly ever run my Scottsman now).

The protective plastic they use to protect the stainless steel is an absolute pain - the plastic is trapped between panels so that you'd have to completely disassemble the unit to be able to entirely peel the plastic off.  I used a new razor knife to cut the plastic where the stainless panels overlap one another.

Lastly, I plumbed my unit in so that it drains (via gravity) into a U-trap that is located in our basement - I wanted to avoid the use of a drain pump (one less thing to go wrong!).