Hi I don't have answers sorry. I just read your post and this is an issue for us as well. We have a side by side with ice/water in the door but the space is too narrow for a family member who is wheelchair bound to be able to access most of the items in it. We are going to get an all refrigerator all freezer pair because they will be wide enough for him to get close enough to get things...and the Whirlpool sidekicks have slide out shelves. But none of these have ice/water in the door. I love my crushed ice and not to mention the accessiblity of the ice and water in the door. I thought about an ice machine but then my husband told me that they have to be cleaned often because the temperature in an ice machine allows bacteria to form versus an ice machine in a freezer? I don't know much about it...just started researching. I don't understand why the manufacturers don't offer ice and water in the door on all refrigerator all freezer pairs. I saw there are some refrigerators with top freezers that have water in the door.

I had a separate icemaker in my former house (kitchen of my dreams renovation and then we moved) and it is what I miss more than anything else from that kitchen--it turned me into an ice snob. The icemakers with drains produce what is called "wet" ice; the temperature is set so the ice is constantly slowly melting (thus the need for the drain) and the icemaker is producing new and fresh ice to keep the bin full. That's why the ice is clear and odorless. Plus I much prefer the shape of the cubes produced by separate icemakers. I absolutely hate the ice in refrigerators, and this is the main reason I was holding out to see the new Electrolux French door refrigerator--the ice is supposedly "improved" even though it is still "dry" ice. I've now seen a photo of the ice from the Electrolux and, although I like the shape better, I don't think that alone is reason enough to buy that fridge. Be aware that some installations require a pump to drain the water from the icemaker. That's our situation--too long a straight run to get the water where it needs to go--and the main reason we aren't putting one in our house. Otherwise I'd gladly give up a cabinet for an icemaker. Of course, we live in a hot climate and have a pool, so we use a lot of ice.

What kind of " better " are you looking for ? Better price, better looks, clear ice, pellet ice, decorative panel or stainless or black or..... Better in terms of do they have a service guy in your neighborhood ? Better warranty ? Easier to install better ?

Hi L G, We ended up with all True for the bar appliances. In the living room bar, we ended up doing the True ice Maker and a True beverage center. We opted to put the ice maker here, as opposed to basement bar, since we figured we would use it much more often in the main living area as opposed to basement which is more used for movie watching and parties. So far that has turned out to be a good choice, since with two small children, we aren't hosting as many parties (yet). For the basement bar, we went with a True refrigerator, a True dual zone wine refrigerator, a True freezer, and a Miele dishwasher (Lumen, I think - I can get the exact model if you want). To be honest, so far this bar hasn't gotten a lot of use but we are still settling into the house, and I think it will be great once we are a little bit more up and running. It's been nice having the extra fridges for the beverage and wine storage. Overall we are happy with the selections. The quality and aesthetics are great. As someone recently posted on one of the threads, the True ice maker isn't "whisper quiet". You can hear it filling up water, clearing out drain, and dumping ice into the chamber periodically throughout the day. I honestly don't really notice it, and without basis of comparison, I imagine it's similar if not better than other ice makers due to the nature of the operation, but if appliance noise is a concern, I would definitely try to check out one and see if you are comfortable with the noise level before committing to one. But we've been very happy having it, and having it near the living space means it gets used a lot, and it's super nice making a cocktail and having a fresh supply of clear ice right by everything. Hope that helps, if there's more information that would be useful please let me know. -joe