Bottom freezer has more useable space but having the icemaker and dispenser in the refridgerator is an extremely poor design.

If you want an ice maker/dispenser on the door get side by side.

If useable freezer space is the priority then get bottom freezer design.

I have a side by side with a seperate small freezer in the kitchen. The freezer is 30" wide,36" high and 26 deep. It kinda becomes part of the vanity base.

I too would like to hear more input on the two. I have had side by side and didn't think I would like anything else but now they come with the ice maker and water in the door which is a must for me. Plus they now have 2 separate doors for freezer which looks like it might be easier to organize all things.
Those that made the switch.. Do you think you have as much room in each area as before? The fridge space seems smaller to me. And If I wanted to put a big stock pot I would have to move shelves. The other thing I noticed new friges seemed to eliminate the meat drawer. If they have one it's not for your roast! Do you find yourself digging upside down for a long periods of time! LOL Would love to hear your experiance on everything.

I hate my Side by side. No room in the freezer for any large (pizza) boxes. Odd shaped packages (peas) constantly falling out onto my floors and feet.

The bottom freezer units have more space.

I never want an icemaker/water in the door again. Useless. Always creeps me out getting water out of that low-flow line. Who know how long it has been sitting in there? I much prefer our excellent tap water.

FWIW, a couple of my friends have told me they regret their narrow side by sides because they can't fit party platters in the fridge.

If you get a bottom fridge, you don't have to bend to access the produce drawers. That was the main selling point for me. If you access your freezer a lot, then perhaps a side by side is best.

SZ makes the bottom freezer with two drawers. Miele has one big drawer but the inner tray slid very very nicely.

I love my bottom freezer. I go into the freezer a couple of times a day (mainly for ice cubes), but am in the fridge much more often. So it made much more sense for me. Plus this way the little kids can't get their hands on what's in the fridge but will be able to when they're a bit taller (read more responsible).

We have a KA side by side. I don't like it much, I have to completely turn sideways to get to the back of the fridge. Although, I do really like the ice/water through the freezer side door.
At the time we bought it, no one had the ice/water in the top doors of the bottom freezer units.

Next time, I will probably want the bottom freezer.

Absolutely detest side x sides. Had one for year and was never so happy to buy a bottom mount freezer. Our KA has slide out trays in the freezer so it doesn't end up having stuff piled on top that you can't get to. It's a good design.

I had a side x side. Liked the ice in the door, didn't like the inability to put large boxes/trays in either the fridge or freezer, didn't like the veggie drawers way, way, way down there on the bottom of the fridge.

Now have a French door fridge with a bottom freezer. Love the top fridge part. Hate the bottom freezer...the drawer is very heavy and difficult to pull out when full, and the ice cube maker takes up 1/4 of the freezer space.

Next fridge will be a French door with the ice dispenser in the door, which will allow better use of freezer space and minimize the weight in the door. Or put a separate freezer in the basement.

I don't like any of the currently available fridge configurations. I was perfectly happy with my old top-freezer model, but they don't make those in 36" wide models. I use my freezer a lot, and I don't like the idea of bending over and digging though a "toy-box" to find a can of OJ or a pack of sausages. Plus, a pull-out at the bottom would interfere with clearances in my tight kitchen.

So, I had to buy a SxS. ALL of the ones currently available have ice/water dispensers, which I didn't want. At least that feature is still working but it takes up significant space that I'd rather use for food storage. The fridge side has an extreme temperature gradient from top to bottom - dairy products sour on the top shelf, and lettuce freezes in the bottom drawers. That never happened with any top mount freezer type.

Oh well, the opinion of my local appliance repair guy is, that none of the fridges currently on the market are likely to last more than 10 years, so maybe by then there will be something more appealing to my way of life.

Nel5on -- I agree totally with cooksnsews. My husband is attracted to the FD bottom freezer, but I know my family, and I will be sorting thru the "toy-box" to get stuff.

My husband has a bad back, so he is attracted to the FD models, to get easier access to the frig. BUT, I know that the freezer is going to be a PIA for him every morning, when he goes to get his bagels. The top drawers don't slide out with the drawer, you have to reach IN and grab the door out. With the Samsung 29 CF the top drawer partially comes out, but it doesn't slide all the way to the front. Yes, there are the GE and the LG models with 2 separate freezer drawers. I think that would be a pain as well -- I can't remember where I put my car keys, no less which drawer I put the pizza/bread/chicken in.

The FD also cost more than the S x S. That doesn't bother me -- but last week's thread on how seemingly unreliable all frigs are, combined with the cost factor, does bother me.

So now (today), I believe that we are going to go with the GE 29.1 SF S x S. I took my cookie sheets: I can put my large sheet in the fridge depth-wise, my smaller cookie sheet fits into the freezer depth. It has the same footprint as the 25 SF fridge. It can fit 6-2 L soda bottles in each shelf of the door (that says something frightening about the American family). And the best news -- it can be had for 1500 bucks -- at least 500 less than the simularily sized Samsung FD bottom freezer. And I believe that I can arrange items so that DH can reach his bagels, fruit, veggies, without bending over. If my family just puts stuff back where they found it . . . . No matter what I get, FD or SxS, I need to get another freezer to put in the garage (and despite my DH desires, it WILL NOT be a toy box freezer).

If it's a mistake, it's less expensive of a mistake. And I don't plan on the frig lasting any longer than 5-10 years. And by then, something new will have come forth.

We are older, and we designed our kitchen, starting back in 2005, based on the fridge. We had a fairly good sized GE, freezer on top. just before the remodel, wife opened the fridge and a ton of stuff fell out, including eggs.
I said that does it!! New fridge gonna have plenty of room, and stuff easy to get at. So I designed the area for a 48" side by side, at our ages mid 60's we just didnt wanna be bending over for the fridge or the freezer--and we looked ahead--where maybe we wouldnt even be able to.
We ended up with the Jenn-air 48" side by side, built in and panelled, and for us, it has worked out great. Everything we use often, is at a convenient height for us, both in fridge and freezer, and plenty of room in both due to the wide size.
We recognize not everybody can design for a fridge this size, just lucky we could as it sure has worked out for us.
No water or ice thru the door, the old GE was a PITA with those.

Gary

To e4849,

Excellent tap water??? filtered I hope.

A side by side hater, and can't wait to change!
My husband fought me 4 years ago and wouldn't agree to the bottom drawer because he said it would be hard to find stuff and whined about not being able to get ice from the outside. (he also had a very bad side part when I met him) :)

So now we have a side by side which is in my opinion, simply retarded. You can't find anything in the fridge side, NOR in the freezer side. I don't say kind things to this refrigerator.

Sister bought the bottom drawer and only complaint is the ice issue....they are constantly buying ice because there's not enough. She does say that it's so much easier to find stuff in the bottom drawer (and the top) than it was in the side-by-side that she previously had. It makes so much more sense to me!

I don't know what model they have.
(I haven't read the posts above)

We're redesigning our kitchen and need to get a side by side to make sure we have enough walk space. I'm buying a side by side only because I will have a spare bottom freezer fridge in the basement to hold ice cream cakes and platters. If it wasn't for the spare, I would never consider a side by side. It really lacks the width that you need for certain items....and with 3 kids I need space for those ice cream sheet cakes!

My Mom had the bottom drawer freezer. I cleaned it for her and that was that. I will stick with the side by side. I agree I can not fit things as easily as her but I hated hated really hated cleaning it. Besides I shouldn't be eating pizza anyway and delivery is pretty good.

Another side-by-side hater here. I always felt like I was having to cram and rearrange, and with the FD w/bottom freezer both the fridge and freezer are much more pleasant to go into

Yesterday's example: I made gnocchi. Spread them out on two cookie sheets and put them on top of the stuff that was in the freezer. No way I could have done that with a side-by-side.

Love the looks of the FD but for us (2 adults-mid 60s) it made more sense to buy another S x S. At first DH was set on the FD but after looking at a FD and a S x S next to each other he changed his mind. This week we bought the CD Samsung S x S. It has the ice/water on the door side of the freezer so it doesn't take up so much of main freezer space. We don't do frozen pizza. No kids-empty nesters- so no ice cream sheet cakes-only grandson lives on the west coast. Would hate rummaging through bottom freezer drawer to find stuff. DH has back issues. Think you have to look at how you will be using the ref./freezer and then get what works best for YOU. There are some very strong opinions here, especially about the FD models. I think FD probably works best for families with kids or if you do lots of entertaining???