Hi Mark, I have the RFG2997AARS. I can't give a review of its long term reliability because we've only had it since just before Christmas. Like you, I have four young children, ages 6-11. We had a side by side for 14 years and I never liked the design. I did quite a bit of research on the mid-range fridges and decided that I liked the layout of the Samsung the best. In terms of features, I definitely wanted water on the door. I would have preferred not having an exterior ice machine, in order to get water on the door I had to have the ice too. My kids drink mainly water, so the exterior water was important to me - I didn't want my fridge being constantly opened so that they could get a drink of water. One thing to mention about the water dispenser (and I'd read this in reviews b/f buying). It is fine for filling glasses, but it can be tricky with water bottles. Regular size water bottles are okay, but you have to make sure you get the mouth of the bottle under the spout. Taller water bottles that don't fit into that space on the door won't really work b/c they won't fit properly under the spout. This has not really been an issue with me, despite having four active sports-playing kids and needing to constantly fill bottles. I only have a few that don't fit so I just fill a cup then pour into the water bottle. (Again, not an issue with regular sized bottles, just oversize/tall bottles). I personally do not think the water/ice dispenser takes up too much room. I was concerned initially while researching, but I was gaining so much space moving up to this fridge from my SxS that I haven't noticed the ice maker being a space hog at all! In fact, I have TONS of room in my fridge. I thought at first that I might be annoyed by lack of storage space on the doors for condiments and such, but I still have plenty of room. They have even fitted shelving around the dispenser on the left door - I can fit smaller items on those shelves and it works. The drawers are plenty big for fruits and veggies. The Cool Select pantry I love - we have a variety of cheese that I keep on one side, then I use the other side for meats like turkey, pancetta, prosciutto, bacon. This drawer has helped keep my fridge so much better organized than my last fridge. Some complain about losing things in the freezer drawer. I have not had that issue. I can actually find things more easily than in my old SxS which was so narrow I was constantly having to move things around to fit them. I keep the things we use the most (frozen waffles, frozen bread, etc) in the top basket and then store lesser used things like frozen meats on the bottom compartment. There is a nice narrow compartment on top just inside the door that I use to store smaller things like freezer packs for my kids lunches, butter, etc. Someone mentioned noise. My fridge is EXTREMELY quiet. The only noise I ever hear, and it's infrequent, is the ice dropping when a new tray is made. That is loud and can be quite jarring if you are sitting around in a quiet house (not often here with four kids!). Made my dog jump the first time he heard it, but it doesn't happen frequently. The fridge itself makes no noise - my old fridge hummed when it was running. I didn't notice it while it was running as I'd grown accustomed to it, but when it stopped I'd notice the quiet! This one is not like that! Other comments: I wondered if having to sometimes open TWO doors instead of one to access the fridge would bother me. I think this is personal preference. It doesn't bother me at all. I tend to know where things are that I use frequently and can just open the door on the side where it is located. Occasionally I do have to open both doors to look for something, but I don't find that a pain. This morning I had both hands full and had to open both doors b/c the things I was putting away were on opposite side of the fridge - wasn't an inconvenience even with full hands. IN HINDSIGHT: I might possibly have gone with the second exterior drawer. I contemplated it, it was more expensive, but wasn't sure it was worth the expense. In hindsight, perhaps it was. I access the deli drawer frequently and you do have to open both fridge doors in order to open the pantry door. Not a big deal and I can easily live with it, but it might have been nicer to just have it be an exterior drawer. The produce drawers do not have to have both doors open in order to access though, just the pantry door b/c it's wide and cannot be pulled out unless both doors are open. Overall, I LOVE this fridge. Again, I can't speak for its reliability since we haven't had it long, but in terms of features/functions, it has been great for our family of six. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer!

I don't see anybody jumping in, so maybe I can help get a conversation started for you. GE had pretty significant reliability and parts problems with its fridges when it started contracting out (outsourcing), but it has brought much of its production back to the US a few years ago. CR's survey data shows that GE is now no less (and no more) reliable than most other brands of SxS models. In our area, GE also cut back on the number of dealers it works with and seems to be concentrating on the highest-volume retailers and big-box stores. Some friends bought one of the large new GE SxS models a month or so ago -- I think it is the one rated for 29 cut. ft. -- and say they are very pleased with its features and capacity. Something to else to bear in mind is that rated capacity is often overstated. Supposedly 25 to 28 cu. ft. SxS fridges sometimes turn out to have no more than 18 cu. ft. of actual capacity. Capacity is affected by the size of the through-the-door ice and water dispensers and some of the larger capacity models have two ice makers. If memory serves, CR rated the Whirlpool and Samsung SxS models as having more usable capacity than other brands with similar capacity claims. Samsung models have separate evaporators for the freezer and fridge compartments. Not the same as having completely separate compressors and cooling systems (ala Sub Zero) but still something of a marketing leg up because of the theoretical advantages. When I was fridge shopping, it seemed that the jury was still out on whether the separate evaporators made much practical difference. Doesn't the biggest Samsung SxS have an external display screen that connects to the internet or you smart phone or displays photos or something? Strikes me one more thing to fail. cascade to other circuitry and interfere with the primary functions. FWIW, some friend have had a Samsung 26 cu. ft. SxS (no screens) for three years with no problems. They make heavy use of the external dispensers. This post was edited by JWVideo on Sun, Jul 6, 14 at 15:48

Our 12 year old KitchenAid washer is again on the blink, so we are in the market for a replacement. The first place we checked was the February 2008 issue of Consumer Reports, which rates 20 front-loaders, 22 top-loaders, and 39 dryers. The LG's rated especially well. We also checked with our appliance repairman, a local independent who services almost all brands and who has done a great job for us for 12 years. He recommended that we "steer clear of LG." He said it is very difficult to get their parts since they are relatively new to the washer business and have not yet established a good service network in the US (they are Korean made machines). He also said that many of the customer service complaints you read about on the web are valid. He will not sign-up to be an authorized LG serviceman until they overcome their startup (for washers) difficulties. Here are a few other points he made: -- He bought a Whirlpool front-loader at Costco a couple of years ago and has been very satisfied with it. -- Although each maker comes out with new models with new technologies all the time, he generally prefers the Whirlpool line. -- Some of the top rated top-loaders do not have the typical center agitators. He said that those machines have a relatively new technology, but he has not encountered any reliability difficulties with them so far. He did say that, although they clean very well for most kinds of loads, they don't do quite as well as the agitator-type machines on extremely soiled loads; i.e., your kids love to play in the dirt and mud! Just thought I'd share this information. Good luck!

My Whirlpool Duet will be 9 years old Next month (April).......... It has been *mostly* trouble free, there were a couple of issues the very first year......all remaining years have been trouble free pretty much. I do know my particular Duet was built in Germany........I hear some of the Duet's now are made in Mexico, some are made in the US too.......I don't think they are made in Germany anymore (could be wrong on that). But I would go with Whirlpool over LG any day too...... Even though something could go wrong with any washer, I think it's less likely with Whirlpool and even more LESS likely with Speed Queen. But Speed Queens are expensive.....and lack some features like a heater...... The thing I hate about extended warranties is the waiting..... If something goes wrong, even if you have the warranty, you may have to go to the laundromat for a few weeks........techs first visit to diagnose............then "order" the part because they never have it with them".........then schedule to come back to install the part...........then, perhaps that was a wrong diagnosis........the new part didn't help..........We will have to order another part and try that"...........This kind of things happens! I hate to be negative........But some of experiences of others I've read makes me so paranoid. I hope my duet keeps chugging along.