Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Having managed and remodeled studio apartments: For 2 to 3 feet of width savings, at $649 - 749 these "compact kitchens" are no cheaper in 2018 than a mass produced hot plate, standalone kitchen sink/cabinet from IKEA and a modern 10 cu ft 24" wide automatic defrost glass shelves refrigerator/freezer like the Magic Chef HVDR1040S. Often even "normal" 18 cu ft top freezer refrigerators are the same price on sale as a 10 cu ft model, due to greater volumes. Yet: * NO FREEZER—no ice or frozen dinners * crude, hard-to-clean wire shelves vs. glass * Microscopic almost useless 2.2 cu ft vs 10 cu ft refrigerator * much less energy efficient per cubic foot than larger refrigerators * Inconvenient stooping access required * archaic non-roller, non-soft-close drawer and storage door vs. IKEA damped drawer slides * Waste of badly needed refrigerator volume at right, for unrefrigerated “storage” * Noisy, tiny compressor * Austere, harsh, metal top--institutional aesthetics * More expensive and time consuming to service: ~~ harder to access components ~~ specialized knowledge, specialized plumbing ~~ more expensive, less available oddball refrigerator parts It's an obsolete design dating from pre-1980s. The studios in the complex I’m in had these when built in 1986. Since at least 2008 they’ve been ripping them out as tenants leave, replacing with the separates described. I think the only people who still buy these are property managers remodeling an apartment they won’t be living in, and unaware, or don’t care about, the higher total life cycle costs, tenant inconvenience and vastly superior alternatives.