Efficient and Good Looking Alternative Fridge

In the universe of refrigerators, there used to be just two options: top-freezer models versus side-by-side. Each had their benefits: top-freezer was more efficient, and held pizza boxes and deli platters with ease, while size-by-size required less bending over and has better visibility. Then entered the bottom-freezer design, such as this GE PDW22SISR, which put the freezer items in a pull-out drawer near the floor, while retaining a huge refrigerator section above the waist level.

Basic refrigeration

All the basics are here: deli drawer, two crispers, and fully adjustable shelving system. The door has a butter dish and four adjustable shelves which are large enough to hold a full gallon of milk. Shelves are angled in a way to contain leaks, are made of a tempered glass which resists cracking, and all plastic parts are easy to clean. A small complaint: the light bulb protrudes slightly and can be damaged by tall bottles.

Basic freezer

The freezer section has three areas: a large main basket, a smaller tray which slides above the main basket, and a recessed area on the right behind that. The left side is taken up by the ice maker. Overall, there's a fairly good amount of area to store items, but if you overload it even a bit, it can be difficult to close. Worse yet, it may appear closed but not seal, allow cold air to leak out and letting your frozen items defrost. It's crucial not to overload the freezer section.

Gee Whiz Features

The design doesn't facilitate any through-the-door water or ice, but there is an ice maker and a filtered water dispenser contained within the unit. The unit uses the (really freaking expensive) slimline GE water filter replacement cartridges.

The single best feature is a sensor that detects if you've left the door open, and beeps like crazy until you get it closed. This has saved me from leaving things a hair open on more than one occasion. It's amazing nobody thought of it before.

But is there a better choice?

Okay, bottom freezers seem like a pretty cool idea, but what about these new "French door" bottom freezers? I'd agree, they look pretty cool, but they don't seem to offer any major functional differences (except for one or two which have some sort of water-through-the-door option). On the downside, they're a lot less sleek (more handles and moving parts). I like the simple stainless steel beauty of the standard bottom-freezer, but judge for yourself.
Update: November 2008
I've owned this unit for 15 months and the ice maker failed. Four weeks and $287 later, I'm not sure I like doing business with GE anymore.