I would say, just get an FD fridge without the in-door water/ice dispenser. You'll save a ton of space (not to mention, those in-door water/ice makers seem to be the most trouble-prone part of any fridge--so avoid those, and you avoid all that potential trouble). My aunt-in-law (is that a word?) has a big beautiful Whirlpool FD that she loves. I think it's this one:
http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/GX5FHTXVA.html
The Frigidaire below (see link) is bigger, if that matters to you. And I haven't seen the Samsung you mention. But right there you have three options. There are also Electroluxes like this, but there are some iffy reviews on those and they almost never go on sale.

The HUGE advantage of an FD over a SxS is that you can fit wide items in your fridge. Like trays and platters of food, those wooden baskets some fruits come in, pizza boxes, the Thanksgiving turkey and so on. You simply cannot fit those in a SxS because the fridge area is less than half as wide (the divider between fridge and freezer is easily 3" so you lose more than half the shelf width).

Why "limp along" on something inferior when there are plenty of huge FD fridges available without in-door water/ice? It'll just cost you more money--it's not as if prices are going to go down. It makes sense to narrow it down to 3 or 4 fridges and then watch to see if one of them goes on sale or finds its way to eBay (some of the sales there include extended warranties)--but it doesn't make much sense to just postpone the decision indefinitely.

Personally I also think it makes sense to get an FD fridge with as much REFRIGERATOR space as possible, even if it skimps on the freezer space, because it's a lot cheaper to get a chest freezer for the basement or garage than to get a second refrigerator.

Here is a link that might be useful: Huge Frigidaire FD

Another e-nester here. Ditto farmer's markets. We have 2 newish fridges, both bottom freezer. Way better with less bending. No ice on door (I don't care for the taste) but we put in a water filter on the sink, which is great. I keep bottles of water I know is clean in the fridge.

What I really like about fridges is bottom freezer, counter depth, improved lighting and open shelves -- both have a wide drawer at the very bottom which holds a ton. Simpler inside the better for me. I don't care for all the compartments. Newer fridge (Liebherr) has 2 compressors and keeps things fresher far, far longer than older (Viking) with single compressor.

That's what I prefer stylewise in whatever brand though I'm really, really happy with the Liebherr. I've also been curious about the fridge with the bottom freezer and separate fridge drawer then the fridge on top. It may be a Samsung or electrolux -- can't recall. Someone may know.

Thanks for all of the information. I'm really leaning toward a nice big FD with no door dispenser. I think the Samsung I wrote about is just like the model the Lowes had an exclusive on with the extra icemaker in the freezer but without the door dispenser. If I really miss the chilled water, I can put one under my sink.

I always loved the dispenser in my SxS's, but when I moved to my current house something went wrong & we've never been able to get ice or water that didn't taste bad even with in-line filters. If I've lived w/o a dispenser for 14 years, I guess it really isn't that important to me. Besides, I keep forgetting that my water will come out of the tap much cooler than I am used to in Houston.

Now, I need to find that Samsung model & a few others to report back on.

Thanks - Jo Ann

If I didn't care about the size of the freezer in my kitchen, because of having a separate freezer elsewhere, I would get an all-fridge. They hold a huge amount. Their internal volume is huge. There is no insulated partition for the freezer compartment, and with its thicker insulated walls too. There is less machinery too. More space for refrigeration for fresh food.

I would get a European or Asian all-fridge, because they use passive cooling (that is high humidity), or almost completely passive cooling. Not "frost-free". Although it's a fridge they use that term. You know the names that come up most often: Bosch Thermador Liebherr Miele Blomberg Samsung LG. Other people may post to say that Subzero or smaller manufacturers also have some fridges with the ability to keep humidity high and move less air than the average run of the mill fridge.

The trade off is that you have to go somewhere not in the kitchen to retrieve ice or frozen berries. It's bearable.

The other big advantage to an all-fridge is that the appliance is optimized for that single function, refrigeration. A fridge-freezer is engineered to compromise between the two functions of refrigeration above freezing and below freezing. This double function causes a lot of compromises in cooling times, rates, methods, etc, which lead to temperature swings not ideal for keeping fresh things fresh. A stable temperature is the good because rot bacteria are triggered to grow, by temperature movement not stasis.

Well, after banging my head against the wall because the kitchen was designed with a 36" wide free-standing fridge in mind, I looked at some of the all refrigerator options. I came to the conclusion that I better stick with the original plan.

davidro_1 - I understand what you are saying about getting an appliance optimized for the job I'm asking it to do: keep food cool. I totally embrace that with all of my engineer's heart & mind. But, the price differential for optimum versus pretty darn good it more than I want to bite off. I can get a Samsung RFG293HARS with ~20 cubic ft of fresh food space (all usable because no icemaker) for about ~$2K in SS. The options that I looked at for all refrigerator are 2-3 times as much for about the same space. Plus, they are built-in & I would have to have the cabinetmaker come back before I've even lived in the house.

If I ever do this again, I may plan and budget for a high end built-in refrigerator only. Also, with this fridge being moderately priced, I can always switch it out & retrofit for another model and not be too far behind the game.

Thanks for the help & advice - Jo Ann

I love the concept and the price of the Sanmsung, but can't get a feel for the dimensions. We always thought we would do the 36" fridge only and freezer only drawers but that has several issues - including a 6 figure price tag and the fact the ice is in the bottom drawer in most so very low.

Is it deeper than a regular fridge? Did you adjust for that in your cabinetry (i.e., is it recessed, or in its own cabinet run?). Just wondering if we could make this work, as the fridge seems to have about the same cubic footage as the 36" 6800 sub zero all fridge.

athensmom - the Samsung isn't counter depth, but is it has the same outside dimensions (+/- within 1") of most larger FD or even SxS full size, freestanding refrigerators.

Yes, I planned out the framing of the kitchen and the cabinetmaker did the cabinetry so that the wall that the fridge backs up to is recessed. You know all the odd bends & angles my house has, so it actually wasn't that hard to do. The good thing is that if I wanted to come back & have the cabinetmaker make it a built-in, there is plenty of width & depth (may have to redo the cabinets above) for it fit.

I'm adding some pictures that focus more on that area. They are the best I have from last month's trip, but most of the appliances aren't installed and there is no cabinet HW.

HTH - Jo Ann

Pretty kitchen. With all the angles in there I'd want the fridge to fit as flush as possible.

rococogurl - thanks for the complement. I've rechecked all of the measurements & the fridge will fit flush. In the tightest dimension there is more than 42" to the nearest obstruction for the walkway.

Looks great and love that it is recessed :) We can't do that unfortunately without reconfiguring the back hall. Thanks for the pics, as always!