I just bought the Samsung French Door (in black, not SS) & am very happy with it. I bought mine at Lowe's, I know they have them at Best Buy too.

I didn't look for 6 mos, but weeks & decided on this brand & model. The other one I was strongly considering was the Amana FD, but after finding out they were tied to Maytag & researching both brands I decided against it. I knew I wanted a FD, I wanted something with a lot of room & something reliable and for around $1500. I feel that I got that, I hope. :) I have a 3.5 yo Kenmore by WP that is junk and didn't want to fridge shop again in the immediate furture. I could have gottena great dealon GE appliances through my CO, but they didn't have a great track record with fridges either.

Here is a link that might be useful: Samsung French Door

I have been reading about all the pros and cons of various FD refrigerators and am close to buying the Samsung because of the dual evaporators. A few posts on this forum though mentioned some had difficulty keeping the milk as cold as they would like. Also, it seems to be difficult to get service (?)...
Any feedback on that?
The Kenmore Elite is same price and I love the pull out shelves, but think I am sold on the higher humidity and thus better fresh food storage in the Samsung (and again, that is their hype...is that true?)
Vicki

Vicki, I have only had my fridge a week, but I can tell you I am really enjoying. I asked Lowe's about the service issues, as that was one of my concerns too. The service is done through them, or at least that is what they tell me. I hope I won't be needing it. I did but the extended warranty, a waste of money normally I know, but for the price of the unit & the good deal I got I justified it.

I read somewhere about the dual evaps, whether it was real or hype (maybe Consumner Reports) & they said it indeed works. Samsung seems to be popular in the European market too, at least while searching for the product it came up quite a bit listed on the UK.

My lettuce would freeze in my old fridge (now in the garage) & not long after I transferred it to the Samsung it was perfect & crisp, no longer frozen. My milk is not frozen, but chilled. I kee that in the fridge, top shelf & not in the door. I am not a milk drinker, but my 3 yo is & he is the first to say if the milk is bad too.

I too thought I wanted pull-out shelves, but I don't miis not having them, never had them before either. With everything at eye level anyhow, I don't really need it. The only thing that might be a drawback is this thing is HUGE! *LOL* I mean really, really big! :)

Lots of prints & smudges in the pic, sorry.

Thanks so much for your input. I, too, have read alot of good about the Samsung. There is a 10% sale going on at Lowe's and I am probably going to go order it tonight or tomorrow.
Did you get the inside water dispenser?
Also...something others wrote about with other brands (LG, I think) was the ice maker making and dropping ice when the freezer drawer was open and spewing it on the freezer and kitchen floor. Do you have that problem?
Thanks.

Vicki, Yes, I went with the one with water inside the fridge. AT first I was diappointed b/c it would drip a titch after the initial fill-up. I didn't want pools of water inside, but it has not happened since the install & I use the water a lot for my little one. I honestly wasn't crazy about the taste of the filtered water, but I am picky about my water. I probably need to try it again.

I do not have any probs with the icemaker dropping ice, I think Amana's had a big problem with that too. My icemaker rat is not super full, but full enough for us, a household of 3. I use ice often too to fill the automatic tea pitcher. It has a handy little scoop inside too. Oh & the ice is a bit smaller than my old fridge, but the perfect size for water bottles. I liked the adjustable cube size of the LG, but think I can live with out it.

I'm going through a small local business for my Kitchenaid 25 cu ft french door fridge (KBFA25ER88), but we're going to have a separate ice maker in our house and we've got the 2nd best water in the country where I live, so there's little reason to filter it. I've learned that the local places have the best service, support and selection, even if their prices are a bit higher. Look around in your area for a place like this: www.stantonsace.com. Very impressed with the Kitchenaid, but haven't had it up and running that long, so we'll see. I love the size and the design. Might be a small freezer for people who freeze a lot of stuff, but we don't, so it seems to be a good fit.

What about the brand new GE 25 ft3? I , too , am wary about the Amana/ Maytag clowns. Is GE any more reliable?
thanks!
LC

Lacuisine, There is a seperatethread about GE appliances speciffically. When I asked at another BB, I was told numerous times to not buy a GE fridge! While doing my own reserach (here & on the net) the GE fridges didn't get high marks. I have a GE washer & dryer that works fine, it seems like their fridges are the prob. I do have one friend that has the GE french door w/out the water/ice feature (less than a year old) & likes it.

I went to look at the Samsung today. The door handles look
exactly like those on my 3 year old daughter's play kitchen from Target! SEriously looks like a toy rerigerator. I am going for the LG. We just don't trust the American brands. At least if it breaks, we are buying it from ABT with an extended warranty and their service dept is excellent. i am NOT getting the water/ ice in the door. It takes up the space of an entire door inside!
thanks for all your help
LC

lol! Well darn, I have a Samsung fridge (it feels sturdy). :p That is too funny about the toy fridge vs. the Samsung. You are going to have me laughing all day about that.

I agree with you on the water/ice in the door, way too much space! The LG is a nice looking fridge, I went with Samsung b/c of what I heard on LG CS, but it seems you have your bases covered! Call it done!

We've owned a GE Profile fridge that lasted us 10 years and then we gave it to friends, it's still working fine 5 years later...no problems..we bought a side by side Kenmore two years ago and the icemaker had 3 motors replaced in one year...it was a mess.

We bought a French door/SS GE Profile on sale at Lowe's...it retailed at 1999 and we paid just under $900! :) It's working great, granted only 2 weeks old but we really like the holders for canned drinks...love the side doors and it does have water inside the fridge that is filtered and an icemaker in the bottom that drops into a tray. I think with any maker, you just want to avoid buying the "new model" until they work kinks out....this model has been around 3 years and had time to fix those.

Tara

Tell me about it! I am going crazy trying to pick a FD fridge that is "stainless look" because I must have a magnetic fridge. As best I can tell, the only companies that make a "stainless look" FD fridge are LG and Samsung. All the horrible feedback on the LG on this board have scared me off; however, its "Titaminum" finish is actually pretty decent in terms of appearance (and doesn't look too "grey"). I need to get out and see the Samsung "Platinum" finish, but I am not optimistic given what I've read of it.
Anyone aware of any others that I've missed?
I am also deterred by the poor quality of the FD fridges (in terms of the door closures, cheap bins etc), and am thinking about just doing SxS until a better FD fridge comes along. If I did think, I'm tempted to forgo the magnetic finish to get the new GE Cafe FD fridge that has a 2 drawer fridge, which looks great!

We have a JennAir 36" FD SS fridge and I love it. We got it at a scratch and dent sale (scratch will be hidden by cabinet panel) for $1000 off.

We've only had it about 6 months, but haven't had any problems with it.

I love how accessible everything is. I didn't want to give up space to in-door ice/water, but find the filtered water spout on the inside very handy. Plus it takes up no room. Ice falls into a tray and is on the top left as you open the lower freezer door. There are two baskets (1 large, 1 small) for frozen food. It's enough for our family of three.

I've been generally pleased with my Kenmore Elite FD. The only complaint is, as you say, the ice maker issue. It seems to make one batch too many before the auto shut-off kicks in, which means that when you pull out the top drawer of the freezer, you get a half dozen cubes flying onto the floor or, worse yet, into the cavity behind the drawer (preventing the freezer from closing). Other than that, it's a great fridge -- good capacity and no complaints about cooling or dependability (based on three months).

I have a Kenmore Trio Elite. I purchased in in 2003. I love this thing and would not have anything else. Due 2 the fact that this was a brand new item, I did purchase the service contract. No 1 sold them back then. I have not had 1 problem with it and it is working fine. If U entertain a lot, this is the best thing ever. I was going 2 buy a SZ and I helped some 1 with a party and her SZ was worthless. I had brought over 30 cookie sheets, full of appetizers and there was no way that the SZ would hold them. Counter top depth is not what U think when U need the space. The trick is 2 use your shot glass collection U picked up in college, and place 1 in each corner of the cookie sheet. U R able to stack and stack and place the cookie sheets, front 2 back and it will hold everything. I have many shot glasses! LOL 5 of my friends whom have seen my fridge have purchased them in various brands. They all love them.

4 those of U that don't know, the FD is not new. My parents had 1 in the 60's. It was a Frigidare Gallery Series, FD. It was shorter as I could rest my chin on it and I am 6'. It was also not as wide, It was a great! Today's FD holds much more.

i just bought a Kenmore Elite FD - I decided on the ULTRA SATIN finish . Copmared to SS right next to it and I couldn't tell the difference. It also has gray on the sides.I wasn't sure if i should have gotten the one with black on the side or not ( I'm still not sure) because one side can be seen ( i'm trying to think of something to hide it)
i picked the Kenmore Elite 25 cf because the bins and drawers were thicker plastic ands seemed more durable ( most brands were Real THIN) and the freezer baskets were NOT wire they were SOLID. I didn't want stuff to drip on the bottom of the freezer or the floor if i pulled it out.

I don't know if i picked the best brand but i did do alot of research and i had to find the biggest one that fit my opening. BTW it barley fit,but it is in!

I had it installed 2 days ago and just Today i found out Consumer Reports Mag has fridges in its Aug. issue ( I think Aug anyway)

good luck on whatever you decide! -janet

We've had the Samsung FD Model # 262590 for a couple of months now and
love it! Roomy, extra quiet, well-organized space---seems to be well-constructed too.

Fauxnecian- I was wondering how you felt about your black Samsung now that you've had it for a longe period of time? I think I'm going to purchase one this weekend but can't decide which color to get it in - was hoping to do the fake stainless but the way people talk about the way it looks (I haven't seen that finish) doesn't sound good. I read somewhere where the black finish was not very durable - and my kids like to hang everything possible from the refrigerator.

When you are in the showroom, open and then close the FD's doors as you normally would. They don't close unless you give them an extra push. Often, when you close one side, the other pops open. My Kenmore Elite does it and every other brand that I've checked in the stores does the same.Something to consider, especially if you have little ones.

That's why I initially didn't want a french door -- but I really like the Samsung the best of the refrigerators I've looked at, and their regular bottom mount is too small, so the french door is the only other option I have-- the only other one I considered after looking at the reviews and seeing them in person is the Kenmore, which would give me a solid door - oh dear, now I'm being swayed again..........