Portable Ice Maker

[DonCon]

Looking for recommendations for a portable countertop ice maker? How noisy are they? Could it be kept outside the trailer? When I looked at the reviews, it seems that people either love them of hate them? Thanks so much for your advice.

[silvercorvette]

Clay L wrote:
Did you read my post above?
They are made the same company. It doesn't matter which brand you buy.

I did read your post but I had seen ones selling for $110 while others were going for $500 and some are selling for over $1,000. I do not understand how the durability in the $110 models can be equal to the $500 models. I am willing to spend more than the cheapest $110 model and I find it difficult to understand how spending 5 times is going to give me the same ice maker with a different manufactures name on it. I am just not getting how spending 5 times more or even 10 times more will not give me any more longevity than a cheaper unit

So there is no difference in quality and durability between these?

Scotsman Counter Air Cooled Touchfree Cube Style Ice Maker / Disp.
by Scotsman
Be the first to review this item
Price: $3,728.69

Whynter T-2M SNO Portable Ice Maker, Stainless Steel Brushed Nickel Finish
by Whynter
3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
Price: $425.00

Koldfront Ultra Compact Portable Ice Maker - White
by Koldfront
3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
Price: $110.00

[DE88ROX]

I just use the ice maker I have in my home freezer. Starting a few days prior to taking off, I just dump what ever was made that day into a plastic bag. More than enough ice for our drinks.

One less thing I have to pack and deal with.

[Oaklevel]

Have used ours 3 years so far & love it........ Same noise as a home refrig. ice maker.....

[Clay_L]

Did you read my post above?
They are made the same company. It doesn't matter which brand you buy.

[silvercorvette]

Bump

I am willing to spend more than $100 if i don't have to replace it every few years. Looking for suggestion for something in the $200 to $250 range. I do not care about noises long as it isn't too loud to hear my TV.

[slarsen]

Ours is two years old. Works great, and it makes a lot of ice in just a few hours. Ice is soft, but if you make up a quantity and put it in the freezer, it's great. We fill a quart freezer bag and it lasts us about 3 days.

The loudest sound is when the ice drops. It isn't that bad, but I prefer not to run it at night for that reason.

[MrWizard]

Noise? - while the machine doesn't make much noise, you can hear the cubes dump when we are inside and the ice maker is outside. Not goint to wake you up, but would not want it in the trailer ...

maybe if its on the table under an open window and nothing else is turned on

we keep ours in the RV, the slight noise does not disturb us

i can not hear it out side even through open windows

[Clay_L]

As others have said they are all made by one company in China and private labeled for many brands. The Magic Chef brand I have is imported by a company that has acquired a license from Magic Chef but is not Magic Chef. It is just an import and sales company.

My first one lasted just under a year and the replacement (under warranty) just over a year. I repaired the second one with parts from the first one and it has lasted 4 or 5 years now.

Like many others we put the ice in a container in our freezer.

If this dies we will definitely get another.

[retired4fun2002]

Bought one some years ago, through WalMart Online Store, and very reasonable. Like all our toys, we used it regularly, but over time found we needed the space it took up. They aen't that expensive, and we use it more at home now. Safe travels.

[2manytoyz]

I bought an Igloo Ice maker from Buy.com for $99 delivered. It failed within 2 months. The manufacturer, Curtis, would NOT HONOR THEIR WARRANTY. I was finally able to get a refund from Buy.com. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!

Take the time to read the reviews for these products. Even the Target website has an owner feedback section, and the reviews for the icemaker is horrible.

The branding doesn't seem to matter. They all look the same, and the parent company is Curtis for the ones I've looked at. I spent weeks trying to get Curtis to honor their warranty, and they refused. Buyer beware...

[Sooner_Schooner]

Found a used one on craigslist for $50 while in Texas three years ago. Still works fine and we love it.

[B_O__Plenty]

We bought one at Target a couple years ago. I think they are all the same no matter which brand is on it. If you put the side by side they are all exactly the same except for the name and the price. Buy the cheapest one you can find. We're happy with ours although we don't use it as much as we thought we would..

B.O.

[old_guy]

well, Maytag is the parent company for Magic Chef and they make them for a lot of other brand names, you know how that works one day they make them for one company and just put the companies name on them. so just find one that is the lowest price and buy it. like any thing else in this world, if it's man made it is subject to failure, sooner or later it is going to fail. some just sooner than others.

[Bionic_Man]

Like others, we are on our 2nd. First lasted 2 seasons. Starting the 2nd season with this one. Find one that is cheap and be prepared for it to last only a couple of years. I think they are all the same quality wise.