Danby DAR195BL 1.8 cu.ft. All Refrigerator - Black

by Danby

Product Features

• 1.8 cu.ft. (51 litre) capacity all refrigerator
• Reversible door hinge for left and right hand opening
• Cycle defrost
• Gen II CanStor beverage dispenser holds 5 beverage cans
• Integrated handle

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Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Danby DAR195BL 1.8 Cu. Ft. Designer Compact All Refrigerator, in black, is energy efficient refrigeration in a convenient, compact space. This model makes a great addition to the student dorm room. It includes our second generation CanStor beverage dispenser, tall bottle storage and a scratch resistant work top to store accessories.

Product Description

The Danby DAR195BL 1.8 Cu. Ft. Designer Compact All Refrigerator, in black, is energy efficient refrigeration in a convenient, compact space. This model makes a great addition to the student dorm room. It includes our second generation CanStor beverage dispenser, tall bottle storage and a scratch resistant work top to store accessories.Package Content:refrigeratormanual / warranty1-1/2 removable shelves for maximum storage versatilityTall bottle door storageSmooth back designMolded worktop resists scratchingEnergy Star compliantHeight 19.69Width 17.50Depth 19.62Weight 44.00Color BlackOperating SystemBatteries IncludedBatteries RequiredNumber of BatteriesBattery TypeLanguage English, French, SpanishAssembly Required

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

174 of 177 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Sounds Like a Mini Airplane Getting Ready for Take-Off! It Does Get Stuff Really Cold!--> Problem Now Resolved. March 24, 2012

By Ellen Ripley TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Amazon Verified Purchase

I wanted a refrigerator that would get really cold, was black and had more room than one with a freezer which I knew I would rarely use. So, based on the good reviews I purchased this Danby DAR195BL 1.8 cu.ft. All Refrigerator - Black.

This compact fridge is very nice. I wanted to mostly use it for drinks, and some lunch stuff/snacks and quick meal items like a carton of eggs, salad dressings and cheeses/luncheon meats; maybe a loaf of bread. They went in with room to spare. The slots for soda/beer cans and my once a day 9.5 oz. bottles of iced Starbuck's Frappucino are nice, everything slid in perfectly. Plus it fits a 2-liter bottle of soda in the door or a quart of milk and a quart of orange juice. Nice 11" depth on the top 2 shelves but items can overhang by another 2", so ideal for leftovers or take-out. Only the bottom shelf is shorter, about 6.5" deep. But so far great! And when you get the temperature dial just right and figure out where to put the soda cans so they get a bit of a freeze on them, you get a heavenly cold drink on a hot day.

(If you don't want to read about all my woes with getting a bad unit, skip down to the UPDATE section)
So, that's where the good part ended. It was supposed to be quiet according to most reviews. So I waited a few hours before firing it up (as was recommended) then plugged it in. To my dismay, when the compressor came on it was pretty loud. But I shrugged and just thought it needed about 24 hours to cool itself down and figured it would adjust itself. Well, that didn't happen. It sounds like a mini airplane running it's engine all night long in my bedroom(I've got it set about mid way on the dial). I can even hear it in the living room, over the sound of the television. It makes a constant humming sound at a pitch that just can't be ignored. And we have moved it to different locations/positions too, to try to get it to make less noise but to no avail. The left side also gets VERY hot while the compressor is running.

I love everything about this little fridge but the noise is driving me crazy. I've turned down the dial to a less cool setting to keep the compressor from coming on as often, but now my drinks aren't nearly as cool and refreshing. It's kind of ironic though, because I read a comment about the Emerson 1.8 Cu. Ft Compact Refrigerator (not currently available on Amazon but sold by Target) which is also supposed to be very quiet. That person said his fridge sounded like an "airplane overhead". So I'm thinking this is a quality control issue with these type of fridges or possibly cheap Chinese compressors. Maybe it's just the luck of the draw if you get a quiet or noisy one.

At any rate, I'm thinking maybe I got a defective one, because no one has complained of noise like this. I plan to call Amazon and get a replacement. I'm just hoping that I WILL actually get a quiet one. I really don't mean to discourage anyone from purchasing this unit, because I REALLY like it. But I did feel I should point out how noisy mine is, because maybe they're not making them as good as they used to or maybe they are now being manufactured by another company. Don't really know, just very, very disappointed.

UPDATE 4/3/12: Noise Problem Resolved: Replacement fridge is Great. It's VERY quiet and is warm, not hot, on the sides when the compressor is running. Did have a wobble but was an easy fix. With the dial set to 3/4 my coffee drinks are freezing cold at the bottom level in the door and the back of lower shelf. Need to do a bit more fiddling with the dial, or not. I'm definitely keeping this one!

Note: The AC plug is a "flat to the wall" type so the cord(measuring 6 feet 3 inches) runs against the wall instead of sticking straight out. This means you can push the fridge quite close to a wall. This is a small feature but one I like a lot.

No matter where you buy the fridge it comes only in factory packaging which is not very protective. However, neither of the two I received was dented.

UPDATE 5/12/12: Fridge still running great and I still love it. Holds so much stuff.
UPDATE 6/14/12: The back of the middle shelf is the coldest shelf in the fridge as it sits directly in front of the cooling element. With the temperature dial set at a little past the 3/4 mark, food can freeze on the middle shelf. Once you're past the 3/4 mark on the dial the areas with the greatest freeze potential are anything closest to the back of the middle shelf with the exception of the top shelf. The top shelf is the warmer of the 3 shelfs; hot air rises physics I guess. Fridge working good and I'm still amazed at how much stuff it holds.
UPDATE 8/7/12: As I know this is the time of year when people are looking to send their kids off to college with a compact dorm fridge I will just mention that this item is also sold by at Home Depot but may not be available online.

87 of 89 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ice-cold drinks!! June 28, 2009

By Musicdex

I'd read some reviews on other sites for this model about how lots of people had to adjust the temp because their drinks were too cold (or even freezing). Since that's how cold I want my fridge to be able to cool, I bought one. The other reviews were right! The unit is advertised to keep a temp that's 40 degrees cooler than the surrounding temp. I can testify it does that and more. I have this in in an office environment at work, which is always near 70 degrees. The first time I got this fridge running it cooled down to the high 20's - my drinks were partially frozen and undrinkable. That means this fridge is capable of cooling to a little more than 40 degrees than it's surrounding temp. Perfect! I merely adjusted the temp a little so now it hovers around the low 30's. That means I can depend on my drinks being ice-cold. The knob for adjusting the temp is in the back, so it's a little hard to reach. But fortunately it's near the top, so you don't need to pull out the fridge to reach it. You just have to crouch down all the way and reach over the top.

I work in southern California where it's now in the 90's outside, so it's aweseome when I'm hot and sweaty to be able to open up my fridge and pull out an ice-cold drink. I'm actually going to buy another one for home!

The only problem I had is the first one arrived defective - didn't cool at all. The vendor arranged a UPS pick-up (fortunately I'd kept the packaging - it was dead out of the box) and within a few short days the replacement unit arrived. It's worked perfectly since.

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Freezes without a freezer compartment October 22, 2011

By Dragonbelle

Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this model based on Musicdex's recommendation above. Everything (s)he says is right on the mark. I've had food freeze in this fridge, so it probably can keep a frozen entree frozen or pretty darn close.

It's also very quiet. I have it under my desk at work, where I'm in an equally quiet area of the office. Love it, love it, love it.