put it into any closet and save the hassle and cost.

no need to build it in.

I've been in hotels where a custom cabinet was built around a fridge. There were openings in the bottom sides for ventilation. The cabinet door was attached with a special 'thingey' (sliding rod) that opened the fridge door at the same time. The cabinet looked like an end table, or an end section under a desk.

Another difference may be noise. Dorm fridges tend to be loud. Some of the very expensive small beverage fridges are pretty quiet. There are any number that are in between (and some expensive ones that are loud too).

for reasons i do not know, all the $200 fridges I've seen are quiet.

David, would you like mine?

Actually, though, I suppose it isn't all that noisy for a kitchen, really. It's noisy for sleeping in the same room with. :)

Some people want very quiet for a beverage fridge as in not seen and not heard.

There are several differences (some of which may be important, some of which may not):

1) A beverage center, within the appliance industry, is a glass door unit that has 2 wine racks in it for the storage of both wine bottles and cans/bottles. The dorm fridge is not that

2) The higher end (starting at roughly $1000) beverage centers generally can be built into cabinetry; the lower end ones will need to have ventilation on the sides and the back, which may affect the look you are going for in his office

3) Some brands of beverage centers (Liebherr, U-Line, Sub-Zero) act also as refrigerators (maintain a temperature as low as 34 degrees).

4) If wine storage is important, beverage centers will do a much better job than a dorm style refrigerator, as they maintain steady temperatures, rather than wildly fluctuating temperatures (if you remember the build-up of frost in the dorm style fridges, that is where that comes from)

While these may or may not be important, I wanted to at least put them out there so you can make an informed decision. If you have further questions, put them on here, and I'm sure the group will try to answer!

The least expensive 24-inch wide undercounter fridge on the market is the GE GMR06AAZ(BB/WW) (see link below). It comes in black or white and needs zero side clearance. Cost is around $300. If the textured black or white finish is not to your liking, you can buy the trim kit (about $80) to accept a custom wood panel, or a stainless steel panel. It has a small freezer section that will need manual defrosting.

Here is a link that might be useful: GE GMR06AAZBB

A beverage fridge probably won't have a freezer section. The sub-compact will and it will need to be manually defrosted regularly which may be very undesirable depending on where and how it's installed.

I have a little Black & decker fridge in my office (at work) it does not have a freezer unit so has no compressor and keep beverages (and my lunch) at a nice temperature. It's downside is it will only lower then temp so far below room temp, but unless the AC goes off for some time, it's not a problem. Since it does not have a freezer, if the power goes off on the weekend, I don't end up with a big wet spot on the office floor (which occasionlaly happens with the other ones as the freezer defrosts).

Only paid about $50 for the unit and I'v had it over a year now.

Ulinesalesguy, thanks for the concise list. :)

I think a bunch of us--maybe just me--were led astray by the word "office" into thinking fridge for cold drinks, when the OP--or a lurker with the same question--might really be thinking about wine as well.

Thanks for the feedback. I doubt it will be for anything other than cold drinks. Decisions, decisions....

on walmart.com I typed fridge into their site search. More than 200 options. Little fridges for drinks don't need to be high performance fridges.

I've seen the Danby 4.4 cubic feet / $200 , in operation, and found it quiet.