Not Bad for a Danby- 14 months and still running

I probably will jinx myself by writing this, but I have to say that the Danby unit that I have is running strong- must have been the few from that product run that worked correctly. 

I should try to qualify my ability to give an informed review by saying that I am a huge beer enthusiast and the wife is a huge wine enthusiast.  As a result, I have researched home kegerators (which Danby makes) as well as wine storage units.  I prefer the commercial systems for both home beer taps and wine storage, but the down side is those systems are extremely expensive (~$1100 just to start out).  So you're either a committed enthusiasts or have the money to burn to get into those systems.  However, Danby makes both beer tap systems and wine friges that are economical for the everyday person to own.  However, to make these systems affordable, Danby has to use cheaper engineering and/or cheaper parts.  The result is a product that looks nice and is a 50/50 chance it will work the way you want/expect it to.  Most people that have had a Danby are hit or miss if they would buy another.  When you look at wine systems or beer tap systems, most enthusiasts will agree that commercial systems for beer (Beverage Air, True or their off brands) are the best while Viking and  Kitchen Aid are excellent choices for wine storage (other commercial wine storage are out there but I'm not that big of an enthusiast in wine to know those)  Almost all will agree you get what you pay for. 

So knowing that Danby is cheap engineering and cheap parts, I didn't expect much out of this unit- and since it's storing $10-$30 bottles of wine- the wife isn't going to cry if this thing fails when we are not around.

However, I must give Danby credit on the unit- it has worked very well for the past 14 months (knock on wood).  We bought this in 2007 from Best Buy in order to store better quality wines but not investment quality wine.  I would not trust a Danby for that type of storage.

The things I like are the dual storage and the fact that this has a compressor - not thermoelectric.  As a compressor, it is really quite and it holds the temperatures in the separate zones very well.  I put a liquid thermometer in the separate zones to double check the accuracy of the digital readout and it is still on the mark.  I cannot say how often the compressor cycles because it's quite enough that I almost never notice it.  I only notice it when the house is dead silent.  I actually have to think about what it is making the hum. 

Bottle storage is good but oversized bottles (either long or fat) will not fit on every rack.  Since there is a compressor, there is a "hump" at the bottom of the frige that seems to take up some space, but regular bottles fit without a problem in those racks.  Oversized bottles will not.  You will get 5 bottles per rack though you have to lay them "opposite" - I can't seem to lay them all the same way an get 5 of them to fit side-by-side.  If I lay them "opposite”, they fit without any problem.  

I prefer to see the temperature within the frige at all times so this unit suits me well since the temp display is always on- others might prefer not to have a constant display of the temp.  If you do not want the temp to display all the time, then this unit is not for you.  I also like the fact the light only comes on when you open the door.  The way the wine sits in the unit does not really make for any type of fancy presentation that would require a light to display your wines.  

The unit comes with a plastic humidifier- it's really nothing more than a plastic storage bowl for water that will get in the way and potentially require cleaning or spill all over the place inside the unit.  I do not use mine and have not' seen any issue by not using it.

The door is not self-closing and that would be a nice touch since I have had two bad experiences where I did not close the door all the way - not sure what happened but the next morning I noticed the both temps reading ~59 degrees and realized the door was ajar.  The second time I came into the room while it was dark and noticed the interior light within the unit was on.  Again, the door was ajar.  In that case, I was glad the light is on only when the door is open.  Again, not sure what happened.

I do not like how low the door is relative to the floor.  The door literally "sweeps" the floor.  If you have this sitting on carpet like I did, then the door will have problems opening and closing- even if you expand the little feet on the base of the unit  all the way out.  I solved the problem by going to Home Depot and getting a small piece of 3/4" plywood and some spray paint that matched my carpet (beige).  I put the unit on my painted plywood, which raised the unit up enough for the door to clear the carpet without a problem.  

Also, this is not a front vented frige so you can't use this as a built in - at least not without adequate venting.  

Other than the door clearance, there is not much that I hate about the unit.  It hold the wine- keeping the reds a a nice cool temp while keeping the whites (to include sparkling) cold but not ice cold.  What else do I really need this thing to do - other than work for  several more years!