I'm going with the Samsung - great reviews very big fridge. Will be delivered in two weeks so no experience with it yet.

At ajmadison.com I clicked on Refrigeration, then I entered 33" - 36" , as this seems to be your search criteria on the homeclick link. It gave me a ton of further search options to narrow it down more. See the left hand side column, instead of scrolling through all the choices in the center of the page.

The most interesting one for you is

Either

Total Capacity

Or

Depth without Handles
18" - 21.9" (4)
22" - 24.9" (35)
25" - 25.9" (31)
26" - 26.9" (73)
27" - 27.9" (87)
28" - 28.9" (42)
29" - 30.9" (18)
31" - 31.9" (141)
32" - 32.9" (81)
33" - 35.9" (56)
Custom

HTH

I don't know if KitchenAid has taken over manufacturing of Maytag so that they are no longer what they were a few years ago, but I had a Maytag fridge that was horrible. The drawer slides/supports broke..not once, but over and over again, at our expense and even though they weren't expensive, shipping was. We got to ordering 3 or so sets at a time so that the shipping wasn't more than the item, and because 'we'd need them eventually.' Also, just after the 1 yr warranty, the evaporator motor quit. When I looked on line, this wasn't a unique experience for owners of almost-new Maytag fridges. At the same time, we purchased a top of the line Maytag dishwasher. The literature made claims of some kind of super quiet technology, and it had a food grinder and heated dry that our other dishwasher at the time (Bosch) didn't have. However, it was so loud it was disruptive in the next room, it didn't clean or dry as well as the Bosch, and the rack configuration made it difficult to load very many full size dinner plates or pint-sized glasses. I know that the dw experience doesn't necessarily apply to your situation, but it worked with the fridge experience to show me what their products were like, overall. After my experience with those 2 appliances, Maytag was off my list.

I would stay away from Maytag. For years, they were the best and most reliable brand, but they are not the same company they used to be. My appliance guy told me they had some financial trouble around 8 years ago and were really bad for awhile, then got bought out by Whirlpool so they are now made by Whirlpool. So you would think that now they would be at least as good as Whirlpool, which is actually a decent brand. However, the research I did on Consumer Reports shows that Maytag is among the most repair-prone brand for refrigerators now (Whirlpool is one of the better ones). And Maytag still continues to be more expensive than Whirlpool, so go figure. I do recommend checking the ratings and analysis on Consumer Reports before buying. You can get an online subscription without getting the magazine if you want (that's what I did).

No first hand experience yet, but we have ordered the 29cu. ft. Samsung based on favorable reviews. It seems like the biggest one out there. Read about it on Sears and at Samsung's own website.

We bought a Maytag several years ago and found out that they do not stand behind their product very well. Our fridge went out almost immediately, and it took several weeks to get the "right" part. And here we were trying to be proactive and replace our old fridge before it quit so that we didn't have to deal with fridge issues...
*Just* after the one year warranty expired, the same problem occurred again, and the repair man knew immediately what the problem was-apparently the evaporator motor or some such thing that they originally came with was faulty, so they replaced it with a better functioning one. At our cost. Maytag refused to cover the part or labor. (rhome-I see you had the same problem...) Our slides and such have held up, though.

I'm also going with the Samsung, although mine will be the 26 cu ft one. I didn't need the extra 3 ft for an extra $900 (or more, because the 26 cu ft one goes on sale pretty often). Samsung has gotten some really great reviews from JD Power and Consumer Reports too.

I'm very pleased with my KA fridge - I've had it about 6 years and no problems - even the ice maker and water are still working fine. The only issue is that the SS model has black sides - don't know if they make an all SS model but I believe you can get panels made to cover the sides if that's really important to you. In my kitchen, the black sides go fine with the rest of the kitchen.

We have a stainless steel refrigerator by Samsung - Model RFG297AARS and we love it! It has the same footprint as a standard refrigerator, which is 35-5/8" deep with the handle, 35-3/4" wide and 70" tall. The sides are gray but they blend nicely with the stainless. The gray color does not stand out like the black that is on most stainless steel refrigerators. It has French doors and is 29 cu. ft. Even with the water and ice maker on the door, it is huge inside. It also has a deli tray, which is wonderful. We can fit all of our lunch meats and cheeses in there with room to spare. I cannot tell you much about its dependability since we have only had this for about six weeks.

I would stay away from Maytag also. Our Maytag dishwasher broke after just 2 years. The warrenty was expired, and it was going to be over $200 to fix it. So we had to go out and buy a new one. We don't plan on owning a Maytag anything again after that.

I also have the Samsung - Model RFG297AARS and love it! I have it full of food and there is still lots of room. I think it is a nice looking fridge and agree that the gray sides don't stand out like an eyesore at all. I highly recommend this fridge.

I have a recently purchased KA and I am blissfully happy with it -- it's a FD with the eurostyle handles.

BUT- in response to your spouse's request, my KA is not clad in stainless all around. Based on my research, I'm not sure there's so many that are fully clad in stainless as a base model. I think that for many models there are stainless side panels you can order. Failing that, I think Frigo design can supply them. I wouldn't let the stainless thing hold you back.

I have the GE Profile PFSS6PKXSS 25.8 cu ft. From what I've heard, I think, the GE's and Samsungs are basically the same fridge made in the same place with a different label slapped on.

It also has the gray sides and I think that looks fine.

Love my Samsung FD RF267AASH. We got the one with the stainless look. Love it.

We just got a Samsung French Door 26 cu ft fridge without the ice & water in the door. It has the icemaker in the freezer drawer which suits us just fine. The fact that it has seperate cooling for the fridge and freezer sold my hubby on it, and I like how roomy it is. With 3 teenage boys in the house I need all the refrigerator space I can get!

Ditto on the Maytag. My 5 yr old (which I do not consider to be old) dishwasher started leaking into the basement. Being that we are months into starting the kitchen I didn't want to replace it so I had someone come in to repair it. $235.00 later (I nearly fainted for I could buy a cheapy new one for just a little more money which would tide us over until the remodel) the repairman left and I started to do my first load of dishes - with five adults you can imagine how the dish/pan thing got way out of control... my son tells me that there is water coming through the floor in the basement... again! Repairman returns and notices a crack in the tub that he missed and rewrote the invoice for just the service call - if he hadn't I would have done something unpleasant to him. There shouldn't be a crack in the tub after only five years but I am on the hook because it is "so old".