We bought a Kenmore Trio and I LOOOOOVE it.

It's an armoire fridge -- two doors on the top, freezer drawer on the bottom. You can get a water dispenser on the door, but we decided to get the one that has the water dispenser inside. I think the look is much cleaner... and the door is easier to clean.

Even if you don't get this fridge, do consider an armoire rather than a side-by-side. I will NEVER get another side-by-side.

Here is a Trio with the water dispenser in the front:

{{!gwi}}

mclarke, I LOVE that style. It's my very favorite out there. But, I know it's way out of my budget :( Even if we put in a bit, we can't afford to go too much higher.

We have the maytag french door. freezers on the bottom and it does have the water/ice on outside. What i like is theres no center post when you open door. We have had it a year now and would go out and get another like it. love it!

I am a big fan of GE's - we had a GE Artica in our previous house (2 yrs old now) - bought it at Home Depot as a floor sample (tiny scratch on the side) for about $900. Works perfectly - great temperature control - great capacity (36 inches wide)- had wonderful icemaker and water dispenser. Normally costs more than a $1000 now, but if you can find one on sale they are well worth it IMO. We moved and I now have a 48" fridge (KitchenAid) that cost a lot more money, but I have to say I would take that GE back in a heartbeat - great temp control (better than my Kitchen Aid) and after 2 years of heavy use was working as well as it did the day I got it!

Alright, easily sold, lol. Just got back, bought the Kenmore Trio :)
Doesn't have the water/ice on the outside, OR inside for that matter. Well, does have an ice maker. Guess I'll be buying bottled water. But, that's ok. It was $1600 at Sears, and we got it for $999.

Thanks!

Glad to hear you got the fridge you wanted at such a great price. Be careful of bottled water - most don't have fluoride in it which can lead to increased cavities - ask me how I know? We moved to a home with municipal well water and they were cleaning out the pipes etc. - gross. We decided to only drink bottled water and 3 years later my kids who had no cavities had a couple of small new cavities due to lack of fluoride - supplement if you go with bottled water.

Cheaper, keep a pitcher of water in the fridge.

Sky

We have the Kenmore Trio. Water through the door. Love it. Had it for two years now. It's super quiet, too. This photo is taken from an odd angle due to not being able to get far enough back, so things are a bit out of kilter, but you can see how it looks pushed back into a niche.
Cameron

Do those of you who love the french door fridges not use your freezer or are you all short?! I have looked at those based on the rave reviews here but I just don't get it. The freezer looks awkward to get into and with the water and ice maker in the top half, there is barely room for milk.

Please enlighten me--how do you use the freezer and place things in the refrig? I'm in the postion that I may need a new frig anyday and don't know what to get.

i have the french doors, bottom freezer ... and i find the bottom freezer very, very inconvenient ... it is good looking as refrigerators go, i'll give it that; but just *not* user-friendly ...

Have the Maytag Ice2O (french door) and really like it. Water in the door and ice also.

Freezer on the bottom is much more energy efficient - cold sinks. Also, the fridge door is opened much, much more often than the freezer door, letting out all that cold air every time, so it is more efficient to have things in the fridge at eye level - quicker to get in and out, and no more bending over to rummage around in the crispers. Plus, the freezers all have sliding trays and levels that make them easy to use. I wonder why they ever started putting freezers on top in the first place.

I have a french door LG and I love it. I don't have any problems getting to food in the freezer, in fact I think it is easier than my last traditional fridge. I would rather have my fresh fruit and veggies that spoil at eye level than my frozen food that lasts for months. I have the model that has the water on the door, but not the ice. Having the ice in the door means you have the ice holder on the inside of the fridge taking up almost the whole door. This way we have the convenience of the water on the door, but don't lose any fridge space having the ice there. I had Thanksgiving at my house and I could not believe the amount of food I packed into my fridge! I love it!

Could someone take a pic and post of the interior of the freezer of these French types? I haven't looked at them in stores and can't find a pic online of how the interior of the freezer looks. Is it one big hole to store things in the freezer or shelves? TIA, Mammie

We just bought a Samsung french door fridge, but it's not being delivered until Monday. We have a large freezer in our laundry room, so the freezer section was the last consideration for me.
rnmom of two - YES! I am very short(5 ft. nothin), thank you for asking.
I am never getting a water/ice dispenser, inside or out ever again. That has been the point of failure for our last two fridges, and it's just not worth dealing with.

Mammie, if you go to the link, and click on "product demo" it will show you the inside of the french door that we just bought.

Here is a link that might be useful: samsung french door

sky, I'll have to ask about the supplements, thanks. I was told specifically NOT to use them in the past (when nursing babies) because they can cause spots on kid's teeth, and weakin them if they get too much. My 11 yr old has some of these spots, and he was the only one of the 4 to get supplements. And oddly enough..the only one that's ever had a cavity.

I'm now sitting here with a bit of buyer's remorse. Course, I do that with every purchase. From house, to car. It's really the water feature that's stressing me out. Or, lack there of. I'm tempted to go back, and get a side by side fridge. But, I keep reading how they're less energy effecient, and any problem people have with their side by sides, are with that feature.

As far as having the freezer on the bottom, I love the concept. I really honestly don't use my freezer much at all. I can't stand frozen meat, and aside from a few boxes of old waffles, and the summer's left over ice cream cartons, it's usually pretty empty. I would much rather bend down and go through my freezer stuff once a wk, then 5-10 times a day in the fridge. And the pull out shelves seem pretty easy to work with.

We'll also keep the old one in the garage. It's just like 10 steps from the kitchen, so it'll be great to have the extra storage. Especially when planning for parties, etc.

Thanks everyone!

I know what you mean about the buyer's remorse. I just bought a black French door GE Profile because we got a good deal on it since it was a floor model. My remorse is over whether I should have gotten stainless steel since that is what is really in right now. This one was several hundered dollars less than my stainless options. My other appliances are black so it goes, but we will be replacing a dishwahser soon, and may get a double oven down the road sometime, and now that I have a black refrigerator, I don't know if I should stay with black appliances or replace with stainless. I don't know if the black will date my kitchen. I do really like the French door style and really like the layout. My freezer has deep baskets and two other racks (one that can hold a pizza box) so it is easy to organize. The refrigerator part is great for organization and easy accesss. Ice in the door might be nice but I decided I'd rather have the extra door shelves. Mine has water on the outside, but I could take that or leave it. It's not that hard to fill a pitcher. I hope you will be happy with yours. Best Buy has a 30 day return policy and I have a couple weeks left to decide to keep it or not.

I have the same LG french door style that Krystl has and absolutely love it.There is tons of room and water, no ice in the door . We purchased it at Sears and have had no problems so if you are having buyes remorse I suspect you can get this one within your price range there. Good luck. Kareen

I grew up with a freezer on the bottom, so I was glad to see this design come back. Of course, we didn't have French doors on the top back then.

We don't use the freezer much at all because I don't like to thaw food. Odd, I know. I shop every 3 days for food. Empty-nester, retired, store is 5 minutes away without traffic problems. That said, it tilts for easy access to ice, and also pulls straight out like a drawer for deep storage.