Ice Makers Countertop, 9 Cubes Ready in 6 Mins, High Capacity 33lbs/Day, One-Click Operation, Self-Cleaning Countertop Ice Machine with Ice Scoop/Ice Basket for Home/Kitchen/Office (Green)

This countertop ice maker delivers great performance and is an excellent choice for those who may need extra ice for things like parties or gatherings. It starts making ice quickly and offers two different sizes of ice (a nice feature!). The ice is not as hard as traditional ice makers, which might make it nice for those who want "chewable" ice and the domed cylinders remind me of pebble ice, if a bit larger. The compact size and retro appearance are nice and make it easy to store, it is easy to operate with not too many controls, it is easy to clean, and overall, I like it quite a bit. With that said, the ice does not have a freezer compartment so once the ice is made, it is kind of "use it or lose it" and can make a mess if you are not careful. You also need to add water continuously to keep making ice, which can also be a little distracting if you are busy doing other things. The unit works fine for smaller gatherings but this is definitely not a device for larger gatherings where there is no way it can keep up with ice production as quickly. Just be aware of these limitations and you should be happy with what you get!

This is a really cute looking retro-design, and it works very well. We use it for parties when we know we're going to run low on ice or if we have a family get-together weekend where the ice maker in the freezer won't keep up. The unit is large and takes up a lot of counter space, so unless you have a dedicated bar area with spare counter space, this is probably going to be an appliance that you keep in the garage or man cave and only break it out when it is needed. Another issue is that, while it is insulated, the interior is not chilled, meaning that as ice gets made and dropped into the hopper, it is also always melting. So in theory you could leave this running 24/7 and the water just "recycles" as it melts and then is re-frozen into ice cubes than then melt and the process repeats. Once the unit gets going (it takes about 6-8 minutes to make the first batch of ice) it will generate about 1/2 a tumbler of ice every 6-8 minutes. So if you need ice for a party of 4 people, you need to give it about an hour to build up a bin full of ice and then you will probably be able to keep pace with a normal rate of consumption for 4 people at a party. The unit is super easy to use - there are only a couple of buttons on the front panel - power on/off, large or small ice (which just changes the thickness of the cylinders that are produced), and a "clean" function which seems to just run water over the ice making part without turning on the freezing element. If you are curious how this ice maker works, it essentially uses a refrigeration compressor to chill a set of metal "fingers" that are in the back of the machine. As chilled water is passed across these fingers, ice forms around the finger, creating a domed cylinder shape about 1" long. After a set time (based on whether you choose "S" or "L" ice, the ice is dumped down a chute into the hopper. The chute has a switch on it so that if ice backs up onto the chute (or doesn't make it all the way down into the hopper) the ice making function will shut off and a warning light will light up indicating "Ice Bin Full". We find that this sometimes happens even when the ice bin is not full because some ice fails to make it all the way down, so every time we take some ice, we clear the chute to make sure everything falls nicely. You fill the water tank (which site below the ice bin) by lifting the front cover and pouring in water. This requires you to lift out the ice bin, which can be messy because the ice is always melting, so it drips a lot - you need a place to set it that will collect the drips while you refill the water tank. Bottom line, we are super happy with this cute, retro Ice maker - its not an everyday appliance, but when we are entertaining, we put it out on the bar counter to make sure we never run out of ice.

Cool design and makes a lot of ice. I figured, at the rate it made the bigger ice for me in 8 hours time, it would easily make 30 pounds of ice in 24 hours. That's pretty good. And it's quiet when it's making it. It's honestly not that loud. It's pretty efficient with its water use as well. In 8 hours I filled it, I think, 3 times. The little basket does fill pretty fast and needs to be tended, so if you're making ice for a special occasion, some tending is needed over the long haul. There is a plug in the bottom that is removable and makes draining fast. The machine is rather heavy and bigger than I thought it would be, but still small enough to easily fit on a countertop. This ice machine is a buy anyday/everyday at 100 dollars. I do recommend.

The build for this seems to be very cheap and it seems as though they used cheap plastics and materials. Though this says it's for a Kitchen countertop, it's incredibly large and doesn't really seem to be ideal for a home kitchen. This seems to be more of use at an office or any other large setting. It works and makes ice, but has issues that stem from the design, I.E. the ice tray being incredibly small, which can't really collect a lot of ice. This is an issue for something this huge that takes up space, yet yields very little when producing ice. Alongside that, the top lid makes a weird 'pop' noise when opening and closing. There's another tab that can be opened on the back, that also has no lip to open it smoothly with. All in all, I'll just stick to the traditional ice trays. Given the work it takes for ice, the fact that you may not be able to clean this thoroughly and needing to clear an entire section of my countertop to use this - it seems counterintuitive.