Bulbs & Fittings Ideas

Just got my cooler a week ago and I'm very happy with it. I suggest reading the other reviews as they helped guide me to selecting this product and were very helpful in describing some of the finer features that I was looking for. Now that I've unpacked and used the unit for a week or so, I thought it might be helpful to share some things that weren't obvious from the product description or other reviews:

1) The inside top of the unit slopes slightly from front to back, making it a bit less "tall" toward the back. I'd guess you lose a 1/2 inch or maybe a bit more in height. Not a lot, but enough that it might make you move your top rack down a notch. Also, on the right-hand side of the roof, there is a small "something" sticking down in the back that takes another 1/2 inch or so.
2) The door can swing fully open - there is no stop for it. The first couple of times I opened it, I didn't hang on to it and it swung clear around and hit something sitting to the right of the unit. Again, not a big deal, just keep in mind.
3) As I read one other place, there is a small drip pan in the back of the unit that is not mentioned anywhere in the product description. I haven't had the unit long enough to know whether it fills up, but have set myself a monthly reminder to check it.
4) You lose roughly half your space in the bottom 1/4 of the unit. This is the intrusion from the back where all the "stuff" is. There is a half-depth shelf right around there that butts up against the top of the intrusion, so you can still use the full depth at that point if it's at the right height. That was a nice feature. Below that level though, you loose half your depth. This really didn't impact me as I'm using that lower cavity for small, 100 calorie pop cans, mixers and the like.
5) While apparent from the pictures, I didn't register with me that there is no digital temperature display with this unit, just a 1-10 wheel for cooling selection. As I am using this as a beer fridge and want a particular temperature, I'm going to buy a small thermometer to put inside the unit as an aid in selecting the proper temperature.
6) Minor note - the interior light does have an on/off switch.
7) Lastly, it could just be me but I couldn't get the unit to be perfectly level from front to back. Side to side was fine, but the front of my unit shows it is a bit high even with both front legs screwed in all the way. This could be by design, but as one of those "anal" types, it was frustrating to not be able to get it perfectly level, lol.

Overall, for the price, exactly what I was looking for.

While the packaging on this fridge seems OK, the first two boxes arrived pretty beat up and the fridges also had some dents in them. The first one we received sounded like a lawnmower when plugged in. The second one I didn't even bother taking out of the box since I noticed the corner was dented severely. There was a hole through the fragile sticker which is pretty pathetic. They clearly have some packaging/shipping problems on these. Looks like other brands of fridges have similar problems, not just NewAir. Buyer beware! This could happen to you. It might make more sense to just buy it from a local store if you don't want to take a chance.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

I finally decided to call an amazon customer service rep to see what they could do. He apologized that I wasn't able to get the fridge in good condition. I asked if I could have UPS ship it since the last two had been shipped by FedEx. I also wanted to be able to sign for the package in case I wanted to refuse it (our package deliverers have a bad track record of actually knocking or ringing the doorbell!). He said he would do his best to do these things. Helpful and friendly.

The same customer service rep even followed up with me the next morning to see if we could call UPS and get a signed delivery. Unfortunately UPS said it was too late, that we should have done it when the package went out (not sure why there wasn't a checkbox for the service rep to check? But I don't know how their system works). That being said, the package arrived in pretty good condition (much better than the previous two attempts!) and the UPS man did ask for a signature. I was hesitant when unpacking it and plugging the fridge in, but so far everything looks OK! FINALLY!

Amazon's customer service was excellent. They gave me free UPS pickup for both returns and each pickup/delivery only took one business day.

As for the fridge quality itself...

FRIDGE QUALITY:

The Danby fridge is 0 less, and I suggest you also take a look at that one if you want something cheaper but with what looks like similar quality. This was a gift for my husband and he picked out the NewAir because of the slightly better reviews.

The quality is mediocre...3/5 stars. Not nearly as good as a real fridge. A couple of the shelves aren't quite straight and the cooling metal plate at the top are not quite level either, which makes fitting some of the drinks a pain. The front with the stainless steel door looks nice. The sides are black metal and neutral, but after seeing dents in the first two I know they aren't super sturdy. The back is not metal; it looks to be made of a thin type of wood (think cardboard but sturdier). It is also open on the bottom so you can see the condenser coils. If you want to display the back I suggest getting some kind of metal grating to cover everything.

It comes with what we assume is a condenser tray loosely stuck with putty on the back of the unit (not mentioned in the manual at all). We aren't quite sure if we need to reattach it...we'll figure that out later. There's also random putty in a few other places...looks a bit sloppy but I guess no one will see it since it's in the back.

The door appears reversible but I don't see this mentioned in the (paltry) instructions. Note that if you reverse the door, the "NEWAIR" logo/text will be upside-down. So in that sense the door is not "truly" reversible.

Also note that this is not designed to be put under a bar or counter. You unfortunately need to get an expensive fridge that vents from the front for that, or design the counter with plenty of air flow.

I've had the fridge on for about a day without any drinks and it seems to go below 30 on the bottom when I measured with my thermometer...so it should keep drinks cold.

It is not silent, but it isn't super loud either. I hear a humming sound and a gurgling sound when the compressor runs. The rest of the time it is quiet.

As another reviewer noted, the LED lights are white, not blue...though I guess they are "blueish".

So was this a good buy? I certainly hope so! I don't know how long this thing will last, but if we get 5 years out of it I'd be happy.

I'll update this review if we run into any problems.

UPDATE:

We've had this fridge now for almost a year, and no additional problems so far. The only tiny issue we had is that someone at one of our parties was leaning on the door (who does that?! seriously!), so now it is very slightly crooked, but I'm pretty sure we're the only ones that notice it. At this point I've either gotten used to the humming, or the fridge has quieted down over time. I don't notice any noise from this fridge at all anymore. That being said…I'm very good at tuning out sounds, so YMMV.

Shipping was quick and right to the door. Beer chills extremely well - I'm Happy Happy Happy. Only problem I have is the beer doesn't stay in there long enough.