Description
Cafe 23.1 Cu. Ft. Stainless Steel Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator - Energy Star
Features
- Spill Proof Glass Shelves
- 2 Humidity Controlled Crispers
- Showcase LED Lighting
- External Ice/Water Dispenser
- Counter-Depth Configuration
Customer Reviews
Great refrigerator with nice features!K. Arnold
We wanted a cabinet depth refrigerator as we don't like our fridge sticking out too far from the cabinets. We had a GE prior to this one and I swore I would never buy another GE refrigerator again. It was about 10 years old and was their top of the line cabinet depth back then. Thank goodness for extended warranty as we had numerous calls on it which unfortunately continued after when we had to pay about another $400 to keep it running. Ferraris have this sort of maintenance needs, not GE appliances....I was looking at Samsung and LG options and was sold on going that route when my wife found this model online. I was not thrilled about it, but agreed to look at it since she liked the looks and features. A local large box home appliance retailer said they could get it for me and the price was right - with their 5 year extended warranty - so I went ahead with it.So far it has been a very nice refrigerator. I really like the LED lighting. It really lights up the interior so much better than the old incandescent bulbs of the past. And it gives it a rich look. The LCD panel on the front is an attractive feature and does things like tell you how much water you're dispensing in ounces. Very nice, for example, if you want need 8 ounces of water. It counts it off for you. It also has a neat animated background when in use. Just a nice detail that makes it feel "rich" without being gimmicky.The hot water dispenser is a very unique feature I have not seen on any other refrigerator. It is good for tea, soups, etc. It takes several minutes to warm up, as you may expect, but is more convenient that boiling water on the stove. So far we've only used it a few times, but I can see where this would be a handy feature once you remember you actually have it.It runs quiet and efficiently. The ice maker works very well. It took about 8 to 12 hours before ANY ice was made so don't be alarmed if you don't see any ice making activity for the first 6 or 8 hours. I was ready to call service on this but it must take time for it to get started. (Yes, I know ice doesn't freeze instantly.... It just seemed to be a long time until ANY was made.)The freezer has multiple levels and 2 pull out drawers, so organizing your food should be easy. Going from a side-by-side to this will take some getting used to, but we don't have a ton of freezer stuff and we have a second refrigerator in the garage where we keep items less often used, so ours is still mostly empty. You will have to judge this based on your own habits.The "fun" feature is the ability to use the LCD panel as an electronic picture frame. I am a gadget person so I tried this out. There is a USB port under a rubber cover where the ice/water dispense. THIS IS NOT documented in the manual so I had to find it on my own. It immediately recognized the USB drive and uploaded the pictures. Note, it only does a full overwrite of what is on there, so you can't simply add or delete pictures. Load your pictures on a USB drive, plug it in, and it simply replaces everything on the fridge with what is on your drive. When you use the panel for water or ice, it will then display your pictures for some period of time as a slide show(not sure how long - 10 minutes maybe?) Unfortunately GE engineers don't allow any customization of this feature. It's just an upload and display item; you can't adjust anything about how they display. There is NO documentation in the manual that I could find so if you like this feature you will have to sort this out on your own. (See my reply below with a more detailed explanation of this process!)Overall our first month has gone well. The store explained that the manufacture of GE refrigerators has moved from Mexico back to the US and they've seen an uplift in quality. (I did look and my old GE was made in Mexico and this one is made at Appliance Park in Kentucky.) So will see how that plays out long term. Given the Cafe line is supposed to be their best, I anticipate much better service than the Artica model I had before. Read more ›
Love the special features, but don't love the space/configuration issues.moonbat 78
I have had this fridge for just over 3 months and bought it because I have really like my GE Cafe gas stove. There are things I love about this fridge and things that are disappointing.First what I love…The hot water dispenser, it's fairly quick and gives me the temp I need. I thought it was silly at first, but am amazed by how often I use it and have come to love it.The cold water and ice dispenser, I love that it measures the water for you, the water is COLD, unlike my last in the door water fridge. The ice functions are great, crushed is crushed, cubed is cubed, cubes are a standard size, pretty straight forward.The digital picture function, I love it, and will admit that I thought at first it was a little ridiculous and overkill for a feature. BUT now that I have had it and used it for a bit, I love having the pics on the fridge without cluttering up the front of it.Deli drawer, I love the fact that it is so wide and has a wide range of choices for temp setting. Easily this is one of my favorite features.Door alarm may save us millions in wasted power.Now for the disappointments…The freezer, its drawer does not pull out nearly far enough, you have to have both of the fridge doors also open to get into it. Also, it has a tip out shelf against the front of the drawer that you practically have to do a handstand to see into. Even the tip out feature does not help. The two smaller drawers within the freezer are ok, but again hard to get into without opening the whole fridge up to get into.Interior space, UGH, the veggie and fruit drawers are tiny, not nearly enough space for even basic salad makings. Because the ice maker is on the inside of the front door, the shelves are not nearly deep enough. This fridge has the same useful cubic measurement of my old side by side, but you would never know it. The shelves on the door that holds the ice maker are impossibly shallow, fine if you use teeny tiny containers of condiments, but anyone else will likely be disappointed.In summary. The lighting is great, the outside dispenser is great, I have had no issues with noise as mentioned in some of the other reviews, I love the way it looks and much to my surprise, I love the hot water and digital frame features. The Deli drawer is the best. BUT the draw backs are pretty important to me, space and access to the freezer.The extra features are great, but I would probably not buy this model again because of the size issues and like I said it is supposedly the same size as my last fridge, but the set up makes it seem smaller and less accessible.Unfortunately, the things I don't like are things I didn't notice until after I had lived with it… Read more ›
fantastic fridgeMom
Bought this a month ago when the kitchen renovation was complete. Did extensive research on competing models and brands. We looked at ALL models that were: french-door, counter-depth, single freezer drawer, with thru-the-door ice cube, crushed ice, and water dispenser. This model nails all of those requirements and bested what few competitors there were, typically one competitor from each manufacturer. First, the refrigerator looks fantastic. Great fit and finish, LCD display and control organization. Second, the ice maker and water dispenser is in the door! Don't underestimate this feature. Earlier side-by-side models always had problems with the icemaker and water dispenser because there was a physical connection between the door and the ice/water maker in the body of the refrigerator that would get separated every time the door was opened. The door is thick, but it contains the water filter easy to pop out), the ice maker, the grinder (for crushed ice), and the ice storage. Incredibly convenient and easy to use/maintain. Also, the angle on the water dispenser is just right, no splashes and plenty of room for large cups /bottles. Third, the lighting on the interior of this model vastly outperforms its competitors. Importantly, the LED lighting basically shines from the outer edge of the interior inward, as opposed to downward from the top of the interior (like many competitors). This configuration ensures every shelf is equally lit, and big items don't prevent lower shelves from being lit. Fourth, the compressor almost never runs and when it does, it is whisper quiet. Fifth, temperature is consistent between internal compartments and door compartment, which are large enough to store 1 gallon of milk / 2 liters of soda + additional stuff. This is greatly appreciated. Finally, the hot water feature is helpful for teh occasional quick cup of tea. Does 10oz of hot water (at user specified temperature) at a time, with a heat time of about 2 minutes. I maintain this is the best counter-depth, french door, single-freezer drawer, thru-the-door ice/water refrigerator there is. Not cheap, but worth every penny. Read more ›
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