Over the years I have bought a couple other hand crank ice crushers and have found that they didn't work due to poor design or weak materials. So I didn't expect much. I don't always follow the instructions right off so I didn't know that the one cup was for freeing ice in- a good tip. Anyway with my clunky ice cubes from the ice cube tray I made shaved ice. And it worked. It didn't get stuck at any impassable spots, the crank turned smoothly. I did hold it against my body because the collection bin underneath wanted to fall out with all the cranking. It made shaved ice which would be great for a drink but I wanted to do flavors despite having none on hand so I took some crystal light lemonade mix and mixed it with 1/3 the water, shook it up and put it on the ice. It melted it a little but it was really good. Lemon and ice always go together. I'm looking forward to using this for a little fun with alcohol. I don't know about margaritas because that's a lot of cranking for a tall drink but i was thinking of using it in some of my flavored moonshines. This is easy to clean and it's just ice so after the initial clean if you just do ice it's pretty clean. Thinking of freezing some crystal light and shaving it for nice frozen treats. Also freezing plain yogurt then shaving it for the dog. No need to think of the dishwasher, all of this is easy to clean, just be careful of the single blade. This little item sold out and I can see why.

this machine works great. I have purchased other brands, and they didn't work as good.

I’ve owned several countertop ice makers over the years but this one is a real game changer. I live 2 blocks from a Sonic and at $3/bag I was spending a ridiculous amount of money on my ice habit. I have an older, much less expensive nugget ice maker but gave it away because the ice didn’t get firm enough so it melted on contact with liquid. This one is everything that one wasn’t and more!In my experience there are a couple of important things to remember when setting up a countertop ice maker. First it’s imperative that you let it sit upright and undisturbed for the first 24 hours to allow the oil to flow back into the compressor. Also, it is important to place it somewhere that it will stay completely level. Next, remember to place the exhaust far enough from the wall so it doesn’t overheat and/or blow back and melt your ice. Lastly be sure to run a self cleaning cycle before use and use a solution of 1/2 water & 1/2 vinegar (you’ll need to do this once a month or more often if not using filtered water). I highly suggest sliding it to the edge of the counter and placing a bucket under the drain hole to drain the cleaning solution as this maker is way too heavy and cumbersome to carry to the sink.This ice maker has a larger footprint than others I’ve owned, but the trade off is worth it for the water storage tank which saves me time & trouble of having to refill 1-2x a day like my others. After plugging it in, I filled it to the fill line. It started making ice within the 5 minutes promised and it took it about an hour to fill the basket. While I wouldn’t describe it as “whisper quiet” it’s certainly not loud enough to be bothersome.The controls are very simple and straightforward. There is a power button, a make ice button, and a self clean button. They are clearly labeled and easy to use. One thing I wish it had was a separate button to control the light. As it is, the light only stays on while it’s actively making ice.As for the quality of the ice, it was chewy but much more solid than my old one. This could be due to the shape of the ice being more rectangular, while the old one was more cylindrical with visible grooves that weaken the surface and caused it to melt much faster. The ice from this unit stays frozen MUCH longer and it doesn’t melt on contact with liquids like my old one did. If you’re storing the made ice in your freezer it stays frozen and doesn’t stick together as badly as with the cheaper units. I love the extra water tank which saves time and trouble of frequent refilling. With both tanks combined it holds over a gallon of water for uninterrupted ice making. I really like the clear, front opening storage door which makes retrieving the ice much easier and that it’s easy to see how much is inside.It comes with an 18 month warranty, but time will tell on that as the companies that manufacture these appliances are generally “fly by night” in nature. I paid about $50 to insure mine for an extra 3 years through Asurion on Amazon.Overall this is an excellent ice maker and I definitely recommend it.

First off - this is an ice maker, and it makes ice. That's it's primary function, and it does it pretty well. It is attractive on the countertop, and so far it appears to be a good quality appliance.When I received the ice maker, I unpacked and inspected it and read through the instruction manual. The manual is what you might expect - a pretty thin, less-than-useful manual written by a person whose first language isn't English. But, in the manual and on a separate sheet of paper in the package is a statement that if you have quetions or need help, you can call, email or visit a customer support website.In reading the thin instructions, there was no step referencing when/how to hook up the external water tank. One of the 2 silicone tubes on the back of the unit has a label indicating that it was the input from the tank. I figured I'd take this opportunity to contact customer support and see if this line should be hooked up to the external tank BEFORE running the recommended cleaning cycle.I stared by calling the support phone number. The number is out of service. Not encouraging.I figured the next quickest means of getting an answer would be to visit the support website. Maybe they'd have a chat feature there. There is such a feature - the kind of thing where you have to start with their chatbot and explain your issue before it gives you option to read an article or watch a video. Both the article and the video are for a product other than the ice maker I identified to the chatbot. Not helpful. So I indicated I needed to speak with a real person. I was 1 hour before their closing time, so I figured I had a shot at getting somebody. Nope. I had to type in my question and product info again, and was told that someone would contact me by email. When the contact came, it was not an answer to my very plain question, but instead, it was a request for an order number, a picture of the instruction manual page about which I had questions and a request for a video of the the back of the machine with me pointing out what I had questions about.Summary - the instruction manual is virtually useless and there is no viable product support available.Fortunately, I was able to figure out how to hook the unit up and how to perform the initial cleaning. After that, I filled it with water via the external tank, turned on the power and started it making ice by pressing the "soft ice" button.The machine produces small ice pellets that are easy to chew. Due to the small size of the pellets, a pretty large number of them can be placed in a glass. The large total surface area of the ice pellets cools a drink quickly - but it also causes the ice to melt quickly, which can dilute the drink.One downside is the short length of the silicone tubing that you use to drain the machine after running a cleaning cycle. It requires that you place the machine close to a sink or close to the edge of the counter during draining. The machine has a fair amount of weight to it, so moving it into such a position can be a hassle.Overall, this appears to be a good machine with a poor manual and no customer support. It is also a little over-priced; but then again, what isn't these days?