Customer Reviews

Thermo Electronic Cold and Room Temperature Water Dispenser, Countertop

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

1st of all: do NOT believe the instruction booklet when it says not to wash out the unit before use! (They claim it comes ready for use from the factory.) It gave a really "off" flavor to the water till I rinsed out the unit thoroughly with baking soda dissolved in water. DO believe the people who say it takes a long time for water to get cold--it really does, especially the first time you use it. That said, we really like this unit now. It fits nicely on the counter, is easy to use, and provides our family of two with enough cold water.

This water dispenser has a very nice concept. I liked that it uses any type of refillable bottle. Unfortunately for me after having it a month it never shut off and no longer cooled the water.
I contacted Avanti since it is under warranty and was told to ship it back and they would send me out a new one. Only problem was that I had to cover the shipping over and back and if I wanted to make sure it actually got there, needed to also pay for insurance and tracking. This would have cost me nearly as much as the unit itself and after reading many reviews with negative outcomes even after replacement I didn't feel it was worth the cost. I guess I'll just continue to look for one that actually will work.

Been using this for 3 months now and have no leaking or any problems yet. The best way to get rid of the plastic taste is to boil water and pour it into the tank and flush it out through the spout. After I did a gallon of hot water, the taste went away. The tank is small so after you dispense 2 cups of cold water, the fan comes on. I'm sure in the summer you will run out of cold water quickly if you have several people using it. But if you like to drink your water in room temperature, this is great to have on your counter. Note that i had a dispenser from Poland Spring (more expensive one) and the water tank was aluminum. This water cooler has a plastic tank.

UPDATE:

Once this little cooler warmed up, that is, once it had gone through a few cooling cycles, it achieved cold water, and has done so repeatedly in a reasonable amount of time. There must be a break-in period. The cool water light now responds correctly. I suppose I was hasty in labeling it defective in the first 48 hrs.

I'm still stuck just under five stars based on the small amount of water cooled (approx 2 glasses per cycle) and its need to re-cool fairly often, but that's why it's a compact, and that's why it costs so little. It's unfair to place those kinds of expectations on a product which clearly sells for less than half of a full-sized model and takes up less than half the space.

If I have need of another compact, I will not hesitate to purchase again.

OLD REVIEW:
PROS: Cheap, lightweight, small, convenient for a small number of people to drink water.

CONS: COLD light doesn't light up, cold water is not super cold, unit came smelling of plastic (I followed other reviewers' advice about rinsing it out), and the cold water reservoir is not much more than a glass or two.

If you have small needs this is fine - and it suits me well since I live alone - but if your intent is much more than that, you may want a traditional, full-sized cooler.

For me that would have been overkill - and it didn't hurt that the price on this as of June 2010 is $50, as opposed to spending $150 for most full size coolers.

I was stuck at 3.5 stars and rounded down because of the indicator light's being defective. It's not a big deal, but it says something about quality control. Makes me wonder if perhaps this unit won't last long or if there's some other flaw I haven't noticed.

I purchased this water cooler a year ago and found the water temperature to be not very cold. Only cool but not ice cold, but it was better than tap water.It also made a loud noise when operating and would often do weird things that make it seem as if it is faulty. It would after a long time resume and again give cool water but never ice cold.Almost to the day, one year after purchase it died.I should have known. The reviews showed this up very clearly but I did not heed the warnings.Hope you know what you are doing when you purchase this piece of junk.

Myself and a co-worker both purchased this unit from Amazon for infrequent usage. Both units leaked within 2 months, and 1 unit failed to cool the water after 2 weeks. Avanti would not honor the product's warranty because it was not purchased from them. I know its a low cost and everything, but spilling liters of water all over your desk and laser printer is not really worth the price in hindsight.

The whole 5 gallon of water leaked out all over the place. There is no way to tell if the water jug is seated properly when you change it. Pours very slow, there is an awful plastic taste and I am have a hard time returning it. There is no phone number to contact, what does that tell you?
You have to deal through email, by then your 30 days is over.
I will never buy another item from this company!

If you like cold water, this is NOT the dispenser for you. It takes hours for the water for the cold tap to get cold. Once you get a glass of water from the cold tap, the room temperature water from the jug enters the cold chamber and the little bit of cold water reamining in the cold chamber is instantly warmed up. Thereafter, it again takes hours for the water in the chamber to get cold. If you just want a dispenser for room tempearature water, this is fine. Otherwise, you will be disappointed. I have mine in my office and can count on only one cold glass of water per work day.

All we wanted was a water dispenser for my wife and I at home. If you're wanting a bunch of cold water, this isn't for you. It is very quiet while it is cooling, but it never turned off after several hours (documentation said could take up to an hour), so we just turned it off. We use it strictly as a room temp water dispenser, and for that it works great! In our case, exactly what we wanted!

Again, if you want a bunch of cold water, NOT FOR YOU! Everyone complains about how slow it cools, but it says in documentation it would take an hour to re-cool if you only do 1-2 8oz cups, so don't get mad that it's not an office size water cooler!

i am very dissapointed in this product i does not work the way it should at all if it did not cost so much to send it back i would have returned it a long time ago so am stuck with a product that does not work