Product review (5 stars): Ice!
We use tons of ice, for blended shakes and ice tea/soda, usually at least three 7lb bags a week. But reading the reviews it seemed like ordering this could be hit or miss and spending this kind of money on a 50/50 chance made me beg off. But my Wife got it for me for Christmas, and I have to say it has worked great and we love it so far.

Here are my thoughts and recommendations based on the doubts I had after reading the bad reviews.

First, let it sit, we let our machine sit upright for over 24 hours before we used it for the first time.
Second, clean the interior with a very mild soap solution and then rinse it very well and dry it off.
Third, toss the fist few batches of ice just to make sure you get rid of any batches with lingering flavors from the plastic.
Fourth, use filtered or some other source of clean water that tastes good to you.
Fifth, if you want to put the ice in the freezer use 1 gallon plastic bags.
Sixth, Profit!

One of my biggest fears was that people said putting the ice in the freezer turned it into a big giant frozen blob, and this would make using it in shakes very hard, but we found an easy solution for this. Instead of putting the cubes into a ice bucket we put the cubes into a 1 gallon plastic bag. Each time we add ice to the bag we simply break the ice in the bag up, it is very easy to break apart and once you do it usually stays loose. The bag is a very easy way to move and pour the ice into a glass or a blender.

It takes about one Britta pitcher full of water to fill up the machine and that makes about two full 1 gallon bags of ice on the small cube setting. And we usually run the machine for one full water cycle a day and that has kept us in plenty of ice, enough to make 3 shakes a day and have 2 to 4 cups of tea/soda a day.

How long the machine runs is up to you, once the basket if full, about 4 to 5 batches, the machine will shut off until you clear the basket, so if you stay on top of it, it will only take about 3 to 4 hours to make the entire batch. The ice tray drains right back into the water reservoir so even though the machine interior is cold you do not have to worry about melting ice if you forget.

The machine is relatively quiet but it does have a fan on the side that runs from time to time. And even when the machine says its out of water there will still be about a half inch of water in the reservoir. So if you plan to leave it off for a while you may want to drain the water.

I have noticed that if the basket fills up and the machine shuts off, once you clear the basket it may not start making ice again right away. There is a small metal probe that the basket sits on, this is a thermometer, and if ice is touching the probe it shuts down. So to get the machine started right away after you dump the basket just put your fingers on the metal probe to warm it up and it will start making ice right away.

So far this is a complete win, we are saving over 250 dollars a year on ice, and even if this machine only lasts 6 months, and we have to buy another one we are still saving money. Plus add the convince of not having to constantly buy ice and it just keeps getting better.

If you have any doubts just go for it, and follow these instructions, you can always get a refund so there really is no risk.