Vremi Black Portable Ice Cube Maker - Produces 26 Pounds of Ice Cubes a Day - Display Panel Indicator with Removable Ice Basket and Scoop - Modern Countertop Ice Machine That Makes Ice Every 8 Minutes

**UPDATE** I continue to stand by my 5-Star rating for two reasons: First, this little machine has more than paid for itself. I've found that it works best when the house is cool, but it produces all the ice to meet my needs. Second, wonderfully prompt and professional customer service. I contacted them early on about something and was more than satisfied with the help I received. I've had this unit for 16 months and a couple of days ago it just quit making ice mid-cycle. Sad day! I emailed customer service and in less than 24 hours had a response from the company with suggestions for troubleshooting. Once I verified I had followed all the steps with no success, I received an email stating they would replace the unit. This morning I received another email stating my unit should arrive in 3-7 business days and, since my unit is defective, it's not worth the hassle to return it and I should just dispose of it. I'm hoping the next unit lasts more than 16 months but even if it doesn't, this machine has more than paid for itself. The unit arrived quickly, in original manufacturer packaging, and with no damage. For those who care about aesthetics, it's a nice looking unit. I'm sad to see the 1-3 star reviews but understand that, sometimes, you just get a "bad" unit. That aside, I'll address other complaints I've seen listed here. First of all, I followed the instructions and allowed the unit to sit for a couple of hours before attempting to operate. I had 9 ice bullets within minutes. The first few batches were "thin", but the ice continued to get thicker with each batch. I literally get a batch of ice every 7-1/2 to 8 minutes. (Yes, I timed it.) Is the ice "wet"? Yes, it is. Do they "clump up" and freeze together when put in the freezer? Yes, they do. My solution is to drain as much water from the basket before dumping in the freezer bin, then bang the ice bin on the counter every time I add a batch of ice to break them up. It works. This is actually a LOT less stressful than dealing with three out of four ice cube trays that won't release cubes after twisting, turning, banging, and slamming the trays on the counter, only to get half, or less, of the cubes. Then I have to refill the trays and wait another three or four hours for a "batch" of ice. (As many times as I've purchased ice trays, I've YET to find a "set" that perform consistently.) Roughly doing the math, in three hours, I get 56 ice cubes from trays (if I'm lucky), versus 189 bullet cubes from the Vremi. (PS: I have four ice trays for sale real cheap if anyone's interested...!) Noise...I don't hear this machine running. I live in a very small two bedroom house, the ice maker is in the kitchen, I always have the TV on in the living room (where I spend most of my time), and I don't hear it. Even when I go into the kitchen, I don't hear it running. Is there noise from ice dropping in the bin? Of course, there is! Especially when the bin is empty. Is it truly loud and obnoxious? No, not in my opinion, but, I'm not hyper-sensitive about 9 cubes of ice hitting an empty plastic bin. The noise isn't much different than your freezer ice maker dropping ice in an empty bin. And if you don't empty the ice after every drop, the "noise" decreases. Does the ice start to melt with each batch? Yes, it does. This machine is not a "freezer". If you want your ice to stay frozen as it's produced, you should probably spend another $400-500 to get a freezer ice maker. Is the ice clear? No, and I'm using distilled water. Do I care that the ice isn't "clear"? Nope, not at all. That doesn't change the effectiveness of the ice for my purposes. Are the ice bullets chewable? I'm not really an ice chewer, but for the sake of this review, I just popped one in my mouth. It was taken from a drink, so I'm not sure if that counts, but I chewed it and it didn't break a tooth. I'm not sure what you consider "chewable", but, again, I didn't break a tooth. Is it ice you'd get at "Sonic" kind of chewable? No, but then again, you're not paying for that kind of ice. Is this good for picnics and outdoor use? I can't fairly answer that one because I purchased this for indoor use and it's performing, so far, as well as, or better than expected. Draining water between uses...well, I must say the instruction manual wasn't really clear on this. I reached out, via chat, on the Vremi website, and Anj was most helpful. The drain plug is at the bottom on the outside of the machine. My machine is currently on my table and I was able to slightly move the machine so the bottom was over the edge, put a pitcher under the machine, pulled the plug, by feel, and drained the excess water. If I had it on the counter next to my sink, I would've just moved it over the sink to drain. Customer Service: As just stated, Anj was very helpful in answering my question about the plug/draining issue. And after our chat ended, I received an email with our entire chat conversation. What company does that?! I now have "proof" of my question and the company's answers. What the what?! That, in itself, is huge! I honestly wish I had discovered this awesome little machine while I lived in an RV for four years. The amount of money I spent on bagged ice, that lasted only two days or less, would've paid for this gem three or four times. Now...I have to admit..I've only had this machine a week. HOWEVER, after my wonderful experience with the ice maker and the fantastic customer service, I have no doubt VREMI would take care of me if I had an issue. And if my opinion changes anytime soon, I'll be sure to give an update. Happy ice making!

Excellent product! The maker quickly, and relatively quietly, produces an impressive amount of ice. The ice is perfect for water bottles, soft drinks, ice packs, and in our families case a large amount of chewable ice for my sister who has a iron deficiency. The ice is not particularly hard, which I imagine is not what some people might want. However for those who want “hard” ice similar to the type typically produced by a refrigerator, you can simply put the new ice generated by the ice maker into your freezer and in a short amount of time the ice will be hard. Unfortunately the individual ice cubes tend to freeze together into a single block of ice. However we found that if you use an ice pick (or something similar to an ice pick) the block of ice easily breaks back into the individual cubes. The maker is extremely easy to use and clean. While I would not call it small, it definitely does not take up a large amount of space. It’s similar in size to a typical coffee maker. We have been using this ice maker for a while now and have had nothing but praise for the job it is doing. If you’re like us and are forced to buy ice at a grocery store, spending a fair amount of money each month, buy this maker instead. It will pay for itself in a short amount of time!

First, it works as described. I removed one star because is noisier than what I expected. Still not bad enough to return and makes ice. Noise is similar to that of most Air Fryers, or big over the range microwave oven when running. In the noise of a normal household kitchen is not an issue. After easy unpacking, clean it, wait 2 hours for the oil to settle; add water and voila: ICE Keep in mind: - It does not hold the ice cold: The ice will melt and go back to the tank to be made ice again - Starts making ice within 5 ~ 10 minutes (depends on water and ambient temperature - the cooler the better) - For a party you may want to start running it earlier and moving the ice to a chest cooler - For regular 5 people dinner, we start it ~30 minutes before and this is plenty for all. We turn it off when we start eating (Noise - see above) - The ice will stick to a solid ball if you try to save it in the freezer - The ice is "white" which makes it great for chewing if that's your thing - The cubes are really more like hollow finger tips, but they do their job - Footprint is small, but you still need room in the back and sides for ventilation (~4 inches) We like it, and we have used it for about 2 months now and it still works. Time will tell, but the construction and finish feels good. I almost forgot: Looks perfectly fine, not out of place in a stainless and black kitchen.