LG's magical sliding fridge drawers: how did we ever live without them?
By Paul Miller 
posted Jul 31st 2009 11:24AM
posted Jul 31st 2009 11:24AM
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Wait... dont tell me... Next year model, you will be able to open it via iPhone?
correction: via the new Chocolate
No. Next year's model will send you a Tweet when you are low on milk.
They should use this technology to open and close garage doors... make sure you add the safety feature, wouldn't want anyone to get cut in half. Although that would be cool on Maximum Overdrive 2.
How is this energy efficient... People can't even open drawers on their own anymore??? CRAPGADGET.
What's so amazing about this. It's just an oversized CD drive...well, a food drive.
I don't care how nice LG's are, they are a pain to repair and I will never buy another one again. Unlike most appliance companies, LG pours an epoxy type liquid onto their circuit boards that hardens and prevents anyone from doing any repair work on them, even if it's a small fuse replacement.
This of course forces consumers to go through LG authorized repair which costs 3X more than some local GE repair guy that would have been able to fix your fridge using any GE part.
10minutehobo, I had exactly the same thought.
Josh: Shouldn't it send you a Tweet when you are low on *eggs*?
but can it play doom?
Fridgegadget. HA HA HA!
It's the coolest site ever!!!
Looks like I'm the only one disappointed that Fridgegadget isn't a real site : (
Awesome! Just what I've always wanted!
...until you own one and learn that stacking all of your frozen items on top of each other and having to bend over to sort through them for a freeze pop is not very fun.
Get the panasonic one, it's better, has deeper drawers...
Engadget, these things have been sold in japan for ages, only reason why you never hear about them is because it's more or less a given to have some gimmick like that.
I need twelve of them. How much?
3299 dollars its on the site
hell yeah, me too!!!
I guess engadget has hit rock bottom when they start writing about refrigerators. What's next Toasters? Washing Machines? Dishwashers?
actually waffle irons.
Actually we should get ready for a wave of KIRF product stories.
They already had an article on toasters
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/21/if-microsoft-made-a-toaster/
Because we don't spend enough money on refrigerators as it is.
This one keeps all your food cold for $600
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmun8GK6o2c
I haven't read this story, but I saw the word LG so I assume its another iPhone ripoff. Shame on LG.
but LG doesn't just make phones, they're quite a large electronics and appliance company. I haven't used their their LG uwave, washer & dryer, gas stove, and LG whatever... Any other users? Maybe Apple should also join in to this appliance biz. Can't wait to see what how Apple industrial design is applied to these mundane electronics and appliances.
You mean sort of like how....oh I don't know, the iPhone ripped off of the LG Prada?
You're the kind of fanboy that gives other fanboys a bad rep -- you know the type:
Apple invented touchscreen
Apple invented Video recording
Apple invented (insert some inane, uninformed, ignorant, observation here)
Absolutely wondrous missing of sarcasm there
@MatthewJ- I appreciated your comment.
I'm waiting for a Meizu fridge.
I'll wait for next years model, it'll have an app store.
Sounds like a party in there... not too many people getting laid at the LG stand.
This will talk to twitter very soon...... All of us fatasses will be found beaten and sterilized.....
Sadness is a empty fridge.
Uncontrollable . . . urge . . . to . . . close . . . fridge . . . doors. Can . . . not . . . let . . . cold . . .escape.
/has to scroll away
LG, no thanks. They were Goldstar before they changed their name. Remember, they sold cheap crap plastic radios in Kmart.
The motorized drawers are just a gimmick. Something else to go wrong, break and cost you a small fortune to repair I'm sure.
"Honey, what's for Dinner?"
"Nothing!"
"Why nothing, the kids and I are starving."
"The freezer drawer motor on the fridge is broken and I can't open them!"
"Crap!"
Nissan/Infiniti was Datsun before they changed their name. Would you turn your nose up at a G37?
Yes, the drawers are gimmicky, and the price tag is ridiculous, but don't hate on a company because they made a product you didn't like under a different name 10 years ago.
That being said, I wouldn't buy one of these fridges, because a $500 fridge keeps food just as cold as a $3300 fridge.
LG has come a long way. They make very solid, innovative appliances these days. My house if full of LG appliances with no issues.
Yes I would and I would take a 240z in it's place.
@caleb
I would take a Nissan GTR in its place, any one really I'm not picky. R32, R33, or R34, hell I could even live with a RH drive one.
Remember when Steve Jobs and his buddy went to HP to beg them for a job and got refused?
I still hate his attitude, but change happens.
I have an LG french door refrigerator. Piece of crap. Would never buy again along with the front load washer/dryer combo.
Should I be impressed?
How do we live without em?
because we dont have that bunch of money to change my fridge every year
Looks cool but is so expensive and dumb.
Imagine your toddle pressing that button, he we'll be pushed by the drawer.
I bet he won't push the button again though.
Oh no, we'll be pushed by the drawer!!!
Have you even seen the video. It has safety features built in.
Not that I don't think it's pretty useless. Useful for disabled people maybe.
I hope there's a paperclip hole for manual eject. And I hope said paperclip is included in the box.
old news is old
go to japan and check out the home appliances floor of any major electronics store and you go back home feeling like you got ripped off on that new fridge/washing machine/etc you just got
Great... One more F-ING thing that can break on the fridge. It's not they ever solved the whole reliability problems with the icemakers.
great...for all those people who can't get their hot pockets out of the freezer manually. Seriously though, for how much money I'm guessing this costs, I'd want a built-in model.
My fridge and freezer keep my food cold. How does this one do that better?
Perhaps these thoughts might help...
The French-door slide-out bottom freezer section prevents cold air from "flowing" out when open, and are easy to access. The non-freezer section has a separate sealed-off high-humidity cooling system that keeps veggies fresh longer. Besides, freezer odour stays in the freezer (and vice versa). They use cool and efficient LED lights. And they use many of them, evenly lighting up the fridge. Samsung too has a similar one. I especially liked a model similar to the RFG299AARS (Not sure about the exact model number and if it is available in the US, but I've seen this in Korea and should be out state-side soon) that has an LCD touch-screen with WiFi and a card-reader. They'd work great doubling up as a digital photoframe in the kitchen with news and weather as extras (when not showing other interesting statistics like power consumption, inside temperatures etc.)
Engadget is showcasing appliances now. This is like Autoblog doing a story on a Toyota. It's just not fun.
This will obviously need some sort of extended warranty....and I hope the warranty on this will be no less than 5years or if its lifetime it would be better.
LG's kicking some butt in the appliance market.....
i want 3
It will never beat the iFridge.
What, no built-in LCD tv?
i'd gurss it's more energy efficient than standard style since you only open parts of the fridge, not all of it.
Needs to open/close at least 30% faster though, unless the elderly is the target market, why do such things so often move just too slow, who thought up those standard speeds? They are like perfectly made the too slow that you'd need to be annoyed.
I can see it now:
LG sued after a child decided to play high and go seek. He found the best spot, got in the drawer, reached up, pressed button and it closed. Child found when father decided to make a stiff drink on the rocks.
I hope LG built in a don't freeze items if they are warm feature.
Evolution in action.
Cool, then LG can sue the parents for smearing their product name and get a million from the idiots.
T
Why do they call the bottom fridge compartment french doors? Isn't the swinging doors considered french doors? Why is it french and not American???
Yeah, weird naming it has nothing to do with French stuff
Maybe it's just like "french" fries... which again has nothing to do with France.
They are called French doors because they automatically retreat with just a little push.
They're french doors because there's always two, when one can do the job just fine.
IM UP FO' SOME FRIDGEGADGET
This is nice! The drawer motion is motorized in both ways. Not only it slides open, it's also closed with a touch of a button too. That means you can cram a whole bunch of food in it, and then have it packed in, trash-compactor style. Actually someone also needs to invent motors for wardrobe/closet drawers too.
If you can stuff a 200LB body in to a freezer, then its a refrigerator you should buy. Just in case... your mother in law decides to visit.
i worked on the advertising campaign for these things, they are beautiful, but weigh nearly 400 pounds sans shelves and drawers.
I want. But I have a 3 year old and an almost-5-year-old. Those buttons would get pressed every 2 seconds until the drawer just plain broke.
Why doesn't the frozen TV dinner jump out and cook itself? Useless.
geez, how lazy can we really get? How soon before the food is tracked with RFID tags, new food is automatically ordered and delivered via peapod, then the food is transferred to a microwave via conveyor belts, then it's brought to us by our butler robot so we never have to leave the couch?
Hey wait a minute, that's not a bad idea :-)
Looks pretty good, actually, for people with chronic ailments (crippling arthritis, for instance) or other disabilities that it pains them or can be unsteady to bend over. This eliminates the need to exert force while you're in a vulnerable/unstable position. Yes, you still need to bend over to remove the items, but this can save a step.
Clearly not for everyone, though...as the smart-ass comments would suggest.
what happens if the lights go out and you need an ice pack in the freezer?
Hopefully the fixed the problem with their last 4-door fridge and made it Energy Star qualified for real this time. The Department of Energy whacked them big time (recall of product, plus made LG pay part of purchasers energy bills) for their last model after it was discovered that having the ice maker on made it an electricity hog.
Honestly, I care about energy efficiency much more than automatic doors.
That said, if they fixed the efficiency problem I just may buy one of these suckers.
Don't tweet me that the milk is low. Tweet Amazon so they'll bring me more. And cookies too.
I have an Idea, Engadget! Make THIS a "Recession Antidote!"
Check out WWW.RFRGRTR.COM and weep.
...for joy?
Great... but what happens when the power goes out?
I have found my new sock drawer.
Socks on the rocks.
Ok bedtime now.
"It also has a safety feature; if you get your hand caught in it, it's gonna GHAAHRLAGARLGAROOHHGODSOMEBODYSHUTTHISTHINGOFF!!!"
Well this isn't "new" tech, it's been around in asia for awhile. I've been living in Asia for 3 yrs and I thought this was a lame idea until you realize how HEAVY the freezer drawer/door gets when it's loaded with things. Sure, I can open it fine but for girls/elederly it is very convenient feature.
Arch.. I too am really depressed about no Fridgegadget blog to rss feed. *sadness*
$3500? Pass.