I was never happier to be rid of my side by side. I never used any of the space below about halfway down because we would never remember it was there and it was too hard to clean and nothing ever fit in it. I really did not like it. The freezer side same thing, anything low was not remembered. But then everyone is different. I so much appreciate the extra wide tray accommodation as we entertain a lot and it really comes in handy. I have a KA without ice/water in the door. I didn't want it and do not miss it either. We use ice a LOT and I like just scooping it up in one big scoop and putting in a glass or pitcher. If I could have my choice of refrigerator configuration I would want a single door upper with drawer on the bottom. I don't really like dealing with the double doors on the FD and seem to put everything on one side of the fridge. It's only my husband and I so it's fine but a little extra aggravation at times. The trade off for me is having all the refrigerated items at eye level, I just love that so much and I can't even tell you how much I love the extra width of the deli tray. While it's not perfect I would never go back to a sxs. IMHO they seem prehistoric to me now.

I have a LG 36' 25 cu ft French door with bottom freezer. I did a few measurements and I think you'll be just fine with your space when it comes to having enough room to open doors. With my refrigerator doors closed I have 35" clearance between the door and the counter in front of it. 32" if you go from the handle to the counter. I have no problen standing in front of the fridge with the doors open. When I pull out the freezer drawer all the way I have 18 1/2" of space between the drawer and cabinet. I also have no problem rooting around in the freezer in this amount of space, but I do find I usually stand to the right of the freezer when I pull the drawer all the way open, instead of directly in front of it. When I'm just grabbing a handful of ice or something I stand in the front. It works well for me, and I much prefer the french door style to my old side by side that used to be in the same spot. Double check your measurements. The new 36" fridges are not the same size as the older models. We had to pull out the wood baseboards to get the new fridge in the old spot.

Pros and cons of FD vs SxS have been discussed at some length in numbers of threads over the last year. If you are having trouble with finding them using the GW search engine, try going out to google and use "gardenweb" as part of your search string. One big negative for SxS is that they are the most repair prone type of fridge these days. The annual membership surveys at Consumer Reports show almost all brands are equally problematic with about 15% (one in seven) having major problems in the first five years of ownership. Except for LG whose SxS models have been showing a 22% rate (more than one in five). Probably about half of the problems are with the ice and water dispensers. I've noticed a similar trend with French Door models except that it is not quite as bad. A couple of years ago, for example, Whilrpool FD models were running about an 8% defect rate which was lower than the KitchenAid versions (they ran about 10%, slightly higher because a larger portion of the KA line included ice and water dispensers.) In the last couple of years, the proportion of WP/KA models with ice and water dispensers has increased and the defect rate is now running about 12% for the FD models (one in eight over the first five years.) Not as bad as with SxS models, but getting up there. Another possible negative for SxS fridges for you, with trouble bending, is that most SxS fridges have the the produce drawers at the bottom. Hard to get at them without some serious bending. As for four-door (aka two-drawer) FD models, I recall that four-door FD models are also available from Liebherr, Whirlpool, Kenmore and GE as well as Samsung and LG. I think (but am not sure) that the Kenmore is made for Sears by LG. GE: For a while, GE was outsourcing its fridge production (and had the same defect rate that LG did) but it opened a domestic production line in the summer of 2012 and started making FD models in Kentucky. The domestically produced ones ones seem --- so far --- to be more reliable than the lines that GE outsourced previously. IIRC, both drawers on the current GE models are freezer drawers. Don't remember if the freezer drawer handles were standard pulls or the kind that lift up to assist with opening. Try searching on this model number: PGSS5RKZSS and PGCS1RKZSS. IIRC, the latter one is a counterdepth 4-door. Not sure if it is available in white, but a search at AJ Madison, Lowe's etc. should turn up that info. Whirlpool: The company sells 4-door/two drawer models under its Whirlpool, Amana, Kitchenaid and Maytag brandnames. I believe all are avaiIable in white. The Whirlpool models I looked at (I think) were the WRX988SIBW and WRX735SDBM. On one of them, both drawers were freezer compartments; on the other, the upper drawer was a refrigerated "pantry drawer." IIRC, the Maytag branded ones are still called "Ice2O" and, like the similar KA model, also use the top drawer as a fridge section (or deli drawer.) Also, avialable in white, as I recall. My recollection is that the LG and Samsung 4-door/two-drawer models were only available in with stainless steel door finishes, or at least I could only find them in that kind of finish. When you say you want a "34-inch depth," is that with ot without the projection of the handles? My recollection is that the 25 to 28 cu. ft. capacity four-door units are all pretty much around 33 inches deep but handles project out more to around 35" to 36" deep. The 21-22 cu. ft. models are around 31" inch deep, sans handles. Liebherr fridges have a following here but are built-in models and about twice the cost of the models listed above. I do not believe they are available in white and, AFAIK, they do not have lift-assist door handles for the freezer drawers. This post was edited by JWVideo on Mon, Sep 30, 13 at 14:21

I've had a SXS for 20+ years, and can't wait to move to the house we're remodeling, in large part because of the Samsung RFG298 we've bought. I second the issue of "accessing items in a shoebox from the narrow end". I want to be able to store a large pot, pizza in a large container, ... and I wind up re-organizing left-overs, or even moving from one container to another, to be able to have room for the pineapple, large pot, or left-overs from a restaurant. I keep losing small items in the back. And, I look forward to not having to bend over as often to get to the items in the meat/veg bins. However, note that not all FD fridges are made the same. I had fallen in love with the RFG 29 cu ft, but the appliance stores we'd visited often hadn't had it. My DH had HATED the FDs, he said, ... and it's because all he had looked at were Kitchenaid, LD ones with cracked plastic bins, misaligned bins, etc. And then I realized that Samsung's bin layout may look very similar, but the construction seems much more solid. Plus it has the freezer drawer handle that requires very little force to open, which my back really loves. As I said, we've not yet been using our Samsung, but, since it's such an oft-used appliance, I've spent a few hours in appliance stores over the months, pulling open drawers, shelves, etc. on different fridges, imagining where we'll put things. And am SO much looking forward to having the 29 cu ft FD one!