Product review (4 stars): Portable and effective Ice Maker
This is a really nice ice maker.  We purchased this to use in our RV and it works great for that purpose.  It takes about 6-7 minutes for the first cubes to complete and they tend to be fairly thin. I found that it helps to dump the first batch or two back into the water reservoir so that the water is very cool to begin with and then the cubes start to freeze into a larger, stronger cube with 9 cubes being produced approximately every 6 minutes or so. The machine does not store the ice and it's best to dump it into a container as soon as possible to move to the freezer to keep the cubes thicker and stop the chance of melting. I tend to move them to the freezer every 3 or 4 batches. The machine is supposed to be able to work in very high temperatures but I found it is much less effective in extreme heat or direct sunshine - it's best to keep it in a cooler area away from direct heat. One of the additional things that I like is that the cubes are formed on small spindles which makes them into a very small, tube shape like a cup which holds a small sip of whatever you are placing them in. Overall, this is a great machine to allow for portability, allowing you to not have to run out and buy big bags of pre-made ice.  I'd recommend it.