Product review (4 stars): Nice but...
After reading so many reviews stating these ice makers keep you in plenty of ice for entertaining, I bought one for a ladies luncheon I host every year.  I have only one (relatively) small refrigerator and when preparing for guests, the fridge & freezer space is at a premium.  I thought this unit may alleviate having to make room in the freezer for purchased ice.  Once I received it, I gave it a test run.  Turns out it takes ~four hours for the bin to get full.  (This was confirmed in another review here.)  Ok, fine.  It's easy enough to start it up four hours ahead of when I need it.  BUT...once the bin is full, it only takes a few people who want a lot of ice in smallish glasses (~8 oz) to pretty much empty the bin... So for *MY* purposes, this was not helpful & I have returned the unit.  I would say that if need a smallish amount of ice throughout the day or evening and don't mind donating the space (this is a BIG unit), this ice maker would be great.  But (IMO/IME), don't count on this to keep you flowing in ice for a somewhat large gathering.  Oh and yes, it does make noise when dumping the ice.  Just like a regular ice maker does.  (Some reviews were complaining about the noise.)