I just bought a new one a month ago. I was almost crazy looking at different ones and going over measurements and prices. I looked at the KA and also at the Whirlpool and GE thinking I would get the Whirlpool. Lowes would have to order it so I happened to check this place closer to me, an independent guy that was a Maytag dealer and since they are now Whirlpool he could get me one but he also sold Frigidaire. He had one in stock--just what I needed and it was $400 less than Lowes(for the same model) plus free delivery and haul away of theold one. This ref. makes more ice than any I have ever had.(also has setting for extra ice if needed). It has an air filter inside to keep out odors, sliding, spillproof shelves, also an elevator shelf rolls up/down plus adjustables in the door. Has a meat drawer that you can even set to keep the meat at 32 if need be-this is in the ref. side. The freezer has door shelves and tilt out racks plus baskets in the freezer plus it holds frozen pizza's(Digorno size).This guy also services so I figured I could get him quick if need be--hope not needed! I talked to a couple of servicers before and they said they are all about the same now days. I did go through several on line repair forums reading about fridges and there wasn't that many bad things about Frigidaire. Did read that a few years ago they had some problems but got those worked out now so I hope so. I would think a KA would be good also. Check the repair forums and see if you see many people write in about KA. Hope this helps and good luck shopping. For the money I couldn't have gotten more features than I did with the Frigidaire.

I vote SxS. . We have the Kenmore Elite badged Samsung CD SxS. Initially, we were worried about the fridge not having enough space as we were used to a full depth SxS & we are a family of 4 (DH, myself and DS1&2--who try their best to eat us out of house and home), but we quickly found out that those worried were unfounded. It has plenty of space, lots of storage bin room, is well lit with LEDs and keeps produce fresh for at least 2 weeks! It also has a can rack in the door and a bottle rack in the main compartment. Ice and water through the door work great. We do have a backup fridge in the garage, but really we only use it for extra gallons of milk (we buy 3-4 at a time) and leftovers in those giant styrofoam boxes from restaurants. I think we had a pie or two in there at Christmas too. Other than that, everything fits nicely in the CD SxS. Overall, very pleased and would purchase it again in a heartbeat. I posted the link to our model below. We also thought it would be a nice change to go FD, but after really analyzing how we use the fridge, SxS made the most sense for us. These are the things we figured out: -Unless you're always making up really long platters/pans of food and storing them in the fridge that way, the extra width didn't really make a difference. What you gain in width you lose in height. Regular size pans (ie 13x9) fit just fine in a SxS CD. -As mentioned above, having to open & close 2 doors can be a pain. Depending on the model, the door may have to be closed in a certain order or the mechanism may inadvertently keep the fridge from closing all the way as well. -Having to bend over and rummage through all the freezer stuff seemed like a nightmare waiting to happen (think chest freezer). The only one that we even considered once we figured out the freezer issue was the 4 door version. -The vast majority of CD FD models require you to open the fridge doors to fully access the freezer space. I maybe could have pulled a bag of veggies through the space between the edge of the open freezer door and the edge of the closed fridge doors--maybe. Anything larger would have required opening the fridge to find/remove anything from the freezer compartment. Not very energy efficient if you ask me. So definitely check this before you buy. -No matter which style you buy, make sure the internal set-up will work for you. Hope this helps! Here is a link that might be useful: Kenmore Elite Badged Samsung CD SxS Fridge

The instructions to convert a PDF to a JPEG can be found - along with lots of other great info that you should read - in the New To Kitchens? Posting Pics? Read Me! thread (linked below but can be found on Page 1 or Page 2 of the forum). Go to the post titled Posting Pictures, click on the link and scroll to the Posting a picture from a PDF file post. Here is a link that might be useful: New To Kitchens? Posting Pics? Read Me!

Fridge shoppers have my sympathy. It is not just Kitchenaid SxS models getting "awful" reviews these days, but it does seem to be the currently least reliable line of SxS models. A few of years back, LG was the worst, with a one in four failure rate. Then, as LG got a bit better, Electrolux/Frigidaire started showing 40% defect rate (over one-in three.). The Yale Appliance blog reported that they were seeing even higher service rates for Elux and the "Pro" line of Frigidaires. Now, according to the latest membership survey results published by Consumer Reports , Frigidaire/Elux is the "best" with "only" a 32% failure rate (a "mere" one in three!) while KA is showing a 40% rate for SxS models and everybody else in between. There may not be much comfort in those figures for any brand, however, because the fine print on the survey report says that rate differences of less than 8 points are not statistically significant. The fine print also says the survey is not counting fridges with "service contracts" apparently meaning that they are not counting he responses from people who had defects covered by extended warranties. It is just as bad with French door models except that all Whirlpool brands are showing defect rates over forty percent (some even reaching one out of two!). With plain bottom freezer fridges, the only difference is that LG is now the reliability leader with a one in four failure rate and everybody else with one-in-three rates except for Whirlpool whose brands are showing a one-in-two defect rate. Apparently, ice-maker problems are the thing that makes the Whirlpool brands worse than others. CR is recommending against any kind of Whirlpool-branded fridge with an ice maker It was a much different story when I, Rob30 and Anglophilia bought our KA fridges five and six years ago. Back then, LG was showing the same one-in-four failure rates for its fridges (as was GE, btw), but the Whirlpool brands' rates were down around one-in-ten for BF/FD models and slightly higher for the SxS models. You still saw a lot of awful reviews but that was mostly attributable to Whirlpool's large market share. With that market share, ten or fifteen percent of Whirlpool buyers was still a very large number of folks who could and did write complaints and reviews. Nonetheless, those rates meant that 80% to 90% of us KA/WP owners did not have problems with our fridges. Seems to be a very different story today. Dunno about the "boutique" brands of premium priced fridges as they apparently do not sell enough of them to CR members to generate a statistically large enough response to show up in the survey reports. Have not found anything else that reliably indicates problems rates and longevity. As Landsdowne points out, Bosch fridges in the North American market are made by Whirlpool. Presumably, those would have comparable problems rates. As would Dacor fridges which, I believe, were contracted from Whirlpool. (Now, with Samsung acquiring Dacor, that will likely change, as you might imagine.) Viking fridges have long had a terrible reputation in this forum. (Made in-house in a former Amana plant acquired from Whirlpool, IIRC.) Miele and Liebherr seem to have something of a following here, but I don't think they make SxS fridges. Neither does Fisher & Paykel/DCS which also has had some favorable reviews. If you are going to consider FD or BF models, none of these brands seem to have a lot of user reviews and manufacturer warranty service can be geographically spotty. FWIW, I have often opened and closed my KA's freeezer drawer from the side and have never had a problem torquing the drawer. That's not much consolation given the other problems with the make's current products. Looks like a bad time to be shopping for a new fridge.