Customer Reviews

Koolatron KWC-4 Coca-Cola Personal 6-Can Mini Fridge

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(49)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I really like iced apple juice, but the ice was melting before I ever finished my drink. I was going through apple juice like crazy, but never really drinking much of it. I bought this personal fridge to cut down on wasting apple juice (don't like it all watered down from melted ice). It works so well, that I can fill a 12oz glass with juice, put in a few cubes of ice, and seven hours later, the ice has not melted. Think about it...seven hours! If I leave a glass of ice and juice out for 30 minutes, the ice has melted down to little bitty bits and the juice is too watery.

I used the "Mastercool MSC52224A Infrared Thermometer in Case with FREE MSC52220 Analog Thermometer" that I bought from Amazon to check the temperature performance. The manual for the mini fridge says that it is capable of cooling to 32 (deg F) below ambient. I checked it on a hot day, a warm day, a cool day, and several times between using the digital IR thermometer and it is consistently 32-45 degrees cooler inside the fridge than the outside temperature. Even on a 90 degree day the ice did not melt and I didn't have to replace my drink. The inside temperature at the warmest spot was consistently hovering around 45 to 47 degrees (F). My drink was at around 36 to 38 degrees, depending on where I measured it.
On the days that were around 70 degrees, this fridge read temperatures close to freezing. In fact, I was amazed when I pulled out a frosty glass of apple juice. It happened only once, but still...worth mentioning.
I think the trick to getting this to work optimally is to provide several inches of space for the back end where it vents out the heat. I used the thermometer there as well- the vent on either side exhausts at about 90 degrees (F) but at a low volume so it is not very useful as a space heater.

The unit runs quiet- very quiet. It comes with both an AC adapter, and a DC lighter-socket adapter for the car. The power switch has three positions- Off (middle) to the right is 110AC, and to the left is 12VDC (car). There is a single green LED to indicate ON operation, there are two warm air exhausts on each side at the rear, and two cool air intakes- one at the back plate, and one on the top at the aft end. This is why ventilation and spacing is important- due to the proximity of the hot air exhaust and cool air intake- there needs to be room for the warm air to dissipate and not be drawn in by the cool air intake. The manual says 6 inches space all around, I've found that about half that works in my situation.

I have not tried a six-pack, or tried using it in a car. What I can say is that if you like to have a cold drink handy to sip on all day while you study, this unit is worth every penny. I have not had to waste a glass of juice because it was watered down since using this unit- for that, 5 stars easily.

This little "backup" fridge keeps 6 soda cans very cold. The look is pretty neat. My main quibble is with the latch mechanism. It's a little plastic thing that I'm afraid will break because it takes a little bit of guess work to figure out wither to pull or turn to open. (It turns.) It's perfect for a small conference room, but I'm just afraid that after long usage someone will figure out how to break it. I guess time will tell.

OK, three years later my little buddy died. The handle broke and had to be glued back on a couple of times. But finally he gave up the ghost. So much for my private stash of sodas at the office. I got my money's worth.

I purchased this for my cubicle at work. I wanted to keep water or soft drinks cold enough that I didn't need to keep heading to the cafeteria for ice. It works great for that purpose. CAUTION: It will only fit 12-oz cans of soda, and 8-oz bottles of water (these can be tricky to find). A single 16.9-oz bottle of water will only fit inside sideways, and will take up all the available space. I keep it turned on 24x7. The fan noise is very low (think White Noise). I agree with other reviewers that the latch is flimsy and seems easy to break; use it with extreme care. But overall, the price, size and functionality of this mini fridge make me a happy customer.

It cools a bottled water to a fine drinking temp. It does not do a good job of keeping food cold in office temp conditions. If the ambient temp is 75 degrees, the fridge contents are just cool. I didn't trust my tuna and mayo sandwich after realizing that...but to have a cold drink handy, it's great!
PS This thing died after about 11 months. Per customer service, the part I need to make it cool again costs more than the original price. Since all it did was sit for 11 months, longevity is NOT a strong suit for this item. Would not buy again.

If you expect refrigerator-quality cooling, this isn't for you. It's cute and quiet, but only cools to ~54F where a standard refrigerator cools to ~43F. So good enough for sodas, but not so great for dairy products!

The unit was poor on two accounts:
- temperature was never 'cold' - just cool
- unit's cooling unit failed after three months of 24/7 use

Looks good, but performed terribly.

The cooler, even when left unopened for 8 or more hours, did very little to cool cans of soda. And after 4 months, it stopped cooling altogether. I wouldn't buy another or recommend to a friend.

I bought this to keep at my desk at work, so I could keep a few cans cold without trying to find space in the department fridge. Initially, I was disappointed in the temperature after a few days, but I think that was because I placed the fridge in a partially enclosed cabinet over my desk, where airflow was restricted. I also bought a small fan for my desk and placed it in the same cabinet. The fan was intended to help keep my area cooler, but I think it also helped out a lot with the fridge by circulating the air in the cabinet, and now drinks are cold enough to enjoy.


The fridge I received was actually different than the one in the picture. It looks like the main body of it is the same, but the door just has a coke logo on it instead of the 'Things go Better With Coke' slogan as seen in the picture. The door is mostly red, with just a logo in the middle. I was also surprsied to find that it comes with cords for both AC and DC power, so you could plug this into the cigarette lighter in a car as well as a standard AC outlet in the home.

Overall, I'm satisfied with my purchase. I'd still prefer the fridge to get just a bit colder ( I like my soda to be on the brink of freezing ), but That's probably asking a lot for a device of this kind.

Have been using this cooler for about a month. Not only is is "cute" but does a great job of cooling six cans of any beverage.

Am returning the product, as the handle broke when I was trying to open for the first time. In fact, I was never able to get it open.