Magic Chef Refrigerator - Compact MCBR170 Review

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The Magic Chef MCBR170 Compact Refrigerator is a good choice for most but it does have stability issues which could lead to the unit tipping over so be aware of that when making a buying decision.

When my late father was in a nursing home, he asked us to buy him a little refrigerator for his Pepsi and chocolate that he loved. In that facility, you couldn't count on anyone ever actually doing anything for the residents so, we went out and got Dad the fridge in the hopes that he would have some things he liked on hand. The refrigerator we chose was Magic Chef MCBR170 Compact Refrigerator. It is small and fit fine in his room but it had some stability issues for him.

This unit is a 1.7 cu. foot one which is quite small but fine for a few drinks and small items. The unit has a space saving smooth back design. It has a reversible door and little rubber legs that you can adjust which should level the unit but caused us problems which I will get into in a moment.

Standing at about 20 inches tall, 19.5 inches deep, and only about 17 inches wide, this unit will fit almost anywhere. We it placed on top of a table with a skid resistant mat under it but it still slid all over the place.

The door opens from the top with a molded plastic inverted grip area. Inside, there are two wire shelves and the usual door shelves. Those proved to be a problem for us as well. The heaviness of storing cans in the door shelves caused the whole unit to nearly tip over when we opened the door unless we only put a few cans on the door.

There is a tiny freezer compartment, big enough for a little ice tray (one is included) or a frozen dinner. The temperature control is inside the fridge and is a wheel type which allowed us to set the temperature for the unit from very low to almost freezing. The freezer has no separate temperature control.

Lastly, the saving grace of this unit is that it has a door stopper. That helped to stop the fridge from falling over and from swinging wide open and possibly hurting my father. However, while the stopper is a plus, it was also a small problem when trying to put something slightly oversized into the unit. The door wouldn't open wide enough to allow us to fit certain things inside even though they would have fit inside the refrigerator itself.

We set this unit on a table with a special rubber mat under it which was supposed to stop things from slipping and sliding around. Despite that, the fridge often slid forward when we opened it and back when we shut it.

As far as how it worked, it was fine. It was quiet and kept items cold. The freezer seemed to work fine as well. Ice was always frozen and we never saw any dripping. The problem came in when we stocked the fridge and used the storage space on the door. After about three cans of soda, the unit would become unstable when we opened the door and the whole unit would tip forward from the weight of the door and the stuff stored on its shelves.

We never had an issue with the actual way this unit worked. We had an issue with the stability of it. If this compact refrigerator were on the floor and used by a younger person with quick reflexes, it would probably be a fine choice for dorm rooms, offices, and the like. However, when you have a nearly 80 year old man using the unit, you must be sure it is very stable and this just wasn't.

This one is hard to rate. Although it didn't work out for my father, there is nothing wrong with the unit. It stays cold, is quiet, doesn't drip or leak, has a good temperature control wheel, and is compact. It isn't beautiful but it's fine for most areas where a little refrigerator would be used. However, it isn't the most stable compact refrigerator I have used. It tends to get door heavy and start to tip when fully loaded and the adjustable feet, which seem good in principle, allow the unit to slide around when the door is opened rather than staying still.

I am going with 3 stars for this unit. I recommend it but NOT for the elderly or anyone with slower than usual reflexes.