Update to update, 10/18/06: The last time the fan made noise, I had the unit shut off for a day before I tore into it. This time, I took the fan cover off right away, and the problem was ice buildup on the Peltier heat sink. So, if your cooler makes noise like the fan is hitting something, it probably just needs to defrost for an hour or two. Still a great unit.
Update, 9/15/06: The fan inside that moves air across the cooling side of the Peltier device, started making a noise like it was hitting something. I took 4 screws out of the fan cover, and removed the fan and cover, checked it over, put it back in, and no noise. Not a big problem, but annoying.
The device is extremely quiet, (except when the fan is hitting something!), and I really like this little cooler.
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I bought this a week ago for $70 at Best Buy, no extended warranty, thank you. I was tired of hauling a cooler to work with me every day.
It has a catch tray in the back for condensation collection, and a relatively long A/C cord.
Light inside is better than nothing. Shelf is nice, and door has storage for 1 2-liter bottle as well as other items.
Switching the hinge from right to left side was relatively painless, just required a Phillips screwdriver and some fussiness to get the seal all the way around the door tight before tightening hinge brackets tight.
Keeps food/drinks adequately cool in an air-conditioned environment, no freezer, but I wasn't in need of one. The only things I plan to store in it are sodas and maybe some snacks.
Be aware that it will only cool approximately 35-45 degrees Fahrenheit below the ambient room temperature.
If it's going to be used a lot, (opened and closed a lot, or warm items put in to cool down), then you may want to use some 2-liter bottles filled with water as thermal mass. As the Peltier device heat sink should draw heat out of the interior much less quickly than a normal compressor equipped fridge, it will likely take longer to recover or cool down again when opened or warm items are placed in it. If you have a (relatively) large mass of water inside that's already cool, it should work much more quickly, and the interior temperature is less likely to get into or stay in the "danger" zone where bacteria start to grow.
Again, this is not a refrigerator, it may not get cool enough to keep bacteria from multiplying if the room ambient is too high. It's more of a drink cooler than a fridge.
