The Pro 48 seems cool, and I think it has popularity from that point of view, but I think it doesn't sell that well because it's a very specific look, and very expensive. It is free-standing, I believe, which is a plus for some, but I think most SZ devotees prefer built-in/integrated/panelled. I think the organization of the unit is interesting if it fits your lifestyle. I have the Miele 30" all fridge with the 30" freezer. I love them. For me, it was a matter of not being able to put together a combination of SZ units that would fit well, look good and serve my needs well. I didn't like the BSH columns, but when their Miele second cousin came into the showrooms I knew it was the answer. I love my coolers! The drawers are particularly useful. I can put a full sized filled platter in one. For daily use, I put meats in the bottom one and produce (fruit + veg settings) in the other. The deli drawer is a dream for flat packages. I put the butter box lower down, and use the top of it as a shelf; they show it at the top because in old style fridges that was the warmest part of the fridge (heat rises), but with the cold air vent at the top that's not really true anymore and it's more useful lower down. The lighting is amazing. I miss it when I'm looking for things in other people's SZ's. I rarely move the shelves because I've found an arrangement that works just right for me, but they move really easily, even with a few things on them. Negatives: The latches for the drawers are a little too plasticky and can be off when you put the drawers back. After you fix the seating, they tend to squeak for awhile. If you're into big bottles and jugs, you'll have to devote shelf space to them. I don't do jugs, so I really didn't want door shelf space for them. I do use a door shelf for half gallon refillable water bottles, in the rectangular shape of old fashioned milk bottles. Those fit fine. :) Freezer: The icemaker makes pillbug shaped ice. I like it better than long crescents. In the 30" the drawers have plastic dividers. I find them more useful than not, but they're occasionally annoying. I could fit more without them, but they make organization easier. Same issue with the squeaking if you get the drawer off kilter. The supercool is super.

Thanks Marcydc. Changing the first filter was hard because the installer used big honkin' working man muscles to tighten it so tight we needed tools to unscrew it (I had psychologist man muscles working on it, but he needed pliers for leverage). The real difficulty, however, is changing the filter, and fixing the filter code, without warming up the freezer. After my third change I've learned a few things: The book says that when the filter light first comes on it's just a warning, and when the light changes state (starts or stops blinking--can't remember which), it's time to change. Tech help told me I should change as soon as it comes on, and that the trouble I've had resetting the filter indicator comes from letting it go to the end. In that case, it has to be changed in program mode rather than customer mode. The other thing I've learned is not to even try to reset right after changing the filter. My unit won't go into customer mode if it's even a little warm, and if it loses too much cool, it won't go into program either. It's basically trying to say, "Shut the door, idiot!!!" It's easy enough to change the filter and wait a number of hours. I always set aside some ice, because you're supposed to throw away the first 24 hrs. worth, so waiting another 6-12 hours is no biggie. But what defines "hard"? For me, it's the procedure to get into customer mode or program mode. It's arcane in a way that only a German engineer could like. It's like looking for easter eggs in a computer game. I can't hold the instructions and do the routine at the same time. That's "hard".

We had to decide between SubZero and Perlick drawers. In the end, we picked Perlick. There were a little bit of growing pains. The initial factory settings resulted in frozen coils every few weeks. I guess, it depends a little bit on your climate. The service technician tweaked the settings and the drawers have now been working fine for over a year. So, I guess the problem is fixed. We like that they are more spacious than then SubZero drawers. And we like that there is no ice maker, which we didn't want (takes up way too much space in drawers). But we don't like that Perlick is a little noisier than SubZero. So, I think in hindsight, it's a bit of a wash. We probably would have been fine with SubZero as well. We do have a SubZero all-fridge column that goes with two sets of freezer drawers. That combination is amazing. So much nicer than traditional freezers.

I agree with the comments that everyone chooses how they want to spend the money they earn. I think the question is, assuming you can afford these appliances, should you buy them. Here is my experience in 10 homes (moved around quite a bit for work, now retired). About 25 years ago we owned KitchenAid refrigerators and I swore by them, had great experience with them. Had a KitchenAid fridge again more recently maybe 7 years ago and they are not the same product, I was disappointed. Had a GE Monogram fridge about 10 years ago and had multiple issues with it. Have had SubZero fridges and freezers in my last 3 houses no issues, keeps produce and meat fresher longer. We will install these again in the home we are currently building. I don’t like water dispensers or ice makers in my fridge as they seem to take up too much more valuable (to me) refrigeration space. I turn off the ice maker and use the space for storage. I have only had separate columns so can’t speak to side by side. We use panel ready. We are in a rental while our home is being built, and there is a French door Samsung here and I don’t like it at all. The doors don’t seem to seal well and I don’t like the shelving. It has many digital features. We are building a multi generational home on a large acreage lot. My son and his family will live there in their house and we will live in the main house. Since they are younger, SubZero is not affordable for them. We went to the same appliance store and looked at multiple options on all appliances, mainly for their benefit as I was pretty set on what I wanted based on my experience over the years. The salesman, told us that Whirlpool, KitchenAid and Jenn Aire are made by the same manufacturer with Jenn Aire being their high end and Kitchen Aid has “suffered” due to that positioning. He said that the new GE Monogram line ranges and refrigerators are very high quality competing on functionality with Wolf and SubZero. They are pricey though. A few years ago, we had a suite of Thermador appliances except for the SubZero fridge we purchased, just what was in the home we purchased at the time. We had a repair guy come out to fix an issue with the dishwasher. As we were building the house at the time (yes another one of our moves), I asked him about appliances, specifically if money was not an issue which appliances would he buy. He said Thermador. We had planned to use SubZero and Wolf so I asked him why not those, he said he didn’t know much about them, while he is certified to work on them as well, he hasn’t had to fix them. His view was that they don’t break - I am sure they do but is must be fairly infrequent. Hope this is helpful. Would love to hear what you decide.