Based on my own personal experiences, I am a fan of Kenmore appliances (only those that are made by Whirlpool), or Whirlpool appliances.

Everyone has their personal choices. Here is my thinking.

Style counts a lot. There are 3 door ones now. Since there are two of us, we don't need that much storage room. I prefer a bottom freezer - that way I am not bending down to get to veggies in the crisper. Most everything we use on a regular basis is an easy reach.

We don't use many ice cubes, so we don't need a thingy in the door to dispense those. Our water is plenty cold at the faucet, so we don't need that water thingy in the door.

Last time we went looking, I was almost anal about the energy efficiency. The things that use up power are those that heat things or those that cool things. I wanted something that was extremely efficient.

We ended up with Amana; however the tag on the inside says Maytag. We have GE dishwasher and Whirlpool stove and microwave. We are not brand loyal, and we don't need or use fancy stuff.

You have options on where to look. Big Box stores are easy to find. I personally prefer to keep the money in town. I have always looked for an appliance store that is locally owned and operated. We just redid some of our kitchen. I asked the counter top guy about where to buy a dishwasher. I went there and discovered that it is really a Mom & Pop store. Yeah!

We bought an Amana refrigerator with the freezer at top in ca 1978 and it has given us good service. We are still using it.

Amana is now owned by Whirlpool.

My previous fridge was a side-by-side, but I much prefer the freezer on the bottom, which I have now. Mine is a Kenmore.

I have a smaller LG 3 door without water in the door(just another thing to cause problems) and a bottom freezer. I really like the bottom freezer which seems to hold more than my old similar sized top freezer. Also I really like having the fridge part very accessible without having to stand on my head to find things on bottom shelf. We got it a few years ago at HH Gregg and they had great service and the price was right.

I have just been through this and I will tell you that there is no GREAT refrigerator out there. They all have their problems. The average life expectancy of a refrigerator today is 7 years. In my pursuit, the Samsung was the consumer top-rated but even at that, you can't expect much. I wound up with a Fridgedaire Pro, counter depth, French door.only because I liked the looks of it. I figure since none of them are problem free and will not last very long, I might as well get one I liked the looks of. Sad. We've had it for just a few weeks. Besides liking the door handles (can you believe) it had pull out shelves which I like, the lighting in it is great and the interior seems to be less flimsy than most. I didn't get the water feature on the door because reviewers complained that the water didn't come out cold so we called Fridgedaire and inquired about this and the customer service person said that was true. Instead, I bought a Pur filtered water pitcher that holds 18 cups for $27.00. Works for me.. Eight years ago when we remodeled our kitchen I researched all the appliances and the refrigerator was the one appliance that didn't have a clear cut winner and nothing has changed in the 8 years. My recommendation is to buy whichever one appeals to you. If someone is telling you about their 18 year old or 30 year old refrigerator I can tell you that they don't make them like that anymore. Fridgidaire is made by Electrolux. I just have my fingers crossed that it will hang in there problem free for 7 or 8 years.

I own several, in several rentals. I have a counter depth Frigidaire, purchased at Home Depot. Counter depth Kitchenaid . GE side x side water ice in the door of all 3. Counter depth is a must for me.

I truely dislike the freezer on the bottom. The new stuff lands on top the old on the bottom. Stooping over to get to any of it. I really use my freezer space and the side X side design is easy to organize. All are energy star.

The Kitchenaid one is the oldest. I believe it's now 10 years old. No problems with any of them.

If I was going to buy a "good looking" frig I'd buy a sub zero...by Viking....then hate the freezer on the bottom. lol

In February we replaced a 14-year old GE side by side at our Maui vacation rental condo. I bought the same model GE. The existing model was working perfectly, but things fail faster in the tropics, and we can't risk that happening when we have guests in the condo. It takes 6 - 8 weeks to get a special order appliance delivered to Maui, and no other manufacturer makes a side by side narrow enough to fit in the space available in the condo kitchen.

I did note that the new model has more plastic parts. For instance, the spiral part that rotates to advance ice to the dispenser was metal in the old fridge; plastic in the new one. The old fridge weighed more.

At home, our 42" GE Monogram (counter depth) is working fine. When I was shopping for our new build in 2001, it had everything a SubZero had, at half the price. The Consumer Reports reviews on SubZero weren't positive either. (Another faded glory?)

We've had ice/water through the door since the feature was introduced -- no troubles. Our tap water is good, but water from the fridge is colder and is filtered; one filter lasts us a year. The convenience encourages us to drink more water, and it's nice to get ice without opening the freezer door. I don't like blocking the kitchen aisle with a bottom-drawer freezer or 'digging into' a drawer. I like the 72" tall doors and fully visible top to bottom storage in the side by side. The freezer side is even wide enough to store a frozen pizza box flat on a shelf! LOL

I wanted a French door fridge, so I went to Lowe's and tried all the veggie crispers in every floor model, narrowing it down by how well they slid. That's the part I use most in a fridge. The only one I liked was the last one they had, it had some dings, so they discounted it for me. It is a Samsung, no ice dispenser. We like it OK, it has some good features, but the compressor made a funny noisy from day 1, so that had to be replaced. Had issues with the Samsung stove and micro, too, I don't really recommend them 100%.

First you have to figure out what style you want....sidexside, top freezer, bottom freezer, three door, counter depth, water/ice inside or out or not at all.

We remodeled our kitchen 3 years ago and we ended up with a Kenmore Elite(made by LG) with water/ice in the door, counter depth, three door, bottom freezer. So far so good...no problems. The only thing I might do differently is the two doors on the fridge ...I think one door would be much easier.....but I'm used to it.

We picked this model because at the time it was the only one where the dividers in the freezer were not permanent and you could move them around to fit a large pan. I had a sidexside and would never have one again...the freezer part was way too narrow and impossible to put anything large in there.

I have had my Whirlpool side by side for 3 years. I am very happy with it. When the crushed ice dispenser jams up the ice in the door, it is a quick fix for me to do. I have had a repair person out once to fix the ice dispenser. He had to order the part. He said that appliances don't last like they used to because of all the plastic parts. The reason I bought a new fridge was to have the ice and water in the door and no need to buy diet pop. I drink water all day and have probably saved enough by not buying pop to pay for repairs.

Viking does make refrigerators but they don't make Sub Zero. Sub Zero and Wolf are co-owned.

My first Sub Zero 36" wide refrigerator lasted 28 years and we replaced it 2 years ago with a new Sub Zero when we remodeled the kitchen. The 36" wide freezer unit is still working perfectly and it's now 30 years old. I don't think any appliance made today will last as long as those older units.

maire_cate.....sub zero is like Kleenex......the terms are used interchangeably to define a product design. :0) Sorry I didn't make myself clear.

Thank you all, many of you put a lot of detail in your answers as to why you purchased the brands/styles you did. My husband uses the water and ice maker in the door all the time, so that's a must. We've had a side-by-side forever, I think we'll try a bottom freezer. As many have pointed out they don't last like they used to. Thanks, again.