Does anyone have any preferences or experiences with one over the other?

 

ours isnt an ARB (either)...but ive been running it for 18 months STRAIGHT...in tempatures from 30 to 110 (f)...ive never needed to defrost it (cant say that for the RV fridge) and i am constantly switching it from AC to DC power.

its an edgestar 63 quart...and ive had as many as 100 beers in it and it WAS NOT FULL !
best 500 bucks ive EVER spent....we go "clamping" and dont use 5lbs of ice....prior to the 'lectric cooler we could run thru 200 lbs of ice EASILY on a moderately warm (october) 3 day weekend.

 

rich ?? doesnt take long to justify the expense when you spend 200 bucks on ICE for a 3 day weekend.
hell even in alabama in october (3 day race weekend) we went thru over 200lbs of ice - before we owned the cooler.

i like my beer cold (even in 100+ degree TEXAS summers)....and these coolers can EASILY be run off a solar panel (if youre stationary for more than a day or so, w/out electric).

hell i see people spending 400 bucks on YETI coolers (igloo now has a similarly expensive one too)...and you STILL have to buy ice for those.

i can (now) go "camping" w/ 3 or 4 friends, track side, for a 3 day weekend - and not need 1/2 of a 10lb bag of ice !

 

Ice is $1/pound in Alabama? Jeeze.

 

YUP...in some places it is.

I can tell you that at a race track they GOUGE you for a 20lb bag cause they know most campers need it....and most campers either dont want to or CANT go off site to get ice....at the end of the day its a PIA to go off site to get ice.

so while you CAN buy ice cheap...ice is not always accessible & its money down the drain (literally), and takes TIME....trying to keep 2 or 3 large coolers full on a 3 day weekend aint cheap....consider that on a 2 or 3 day weekend, i can turn it into a 5 day break....driving 20 hours in each direction....so YES i went thru some (imo) significant amount of ice before i owned the 'lectric cooler.

the thing i didnt realize was how much room ICE takes up in a cooler...with no need for ice, i can get a lot more IN the 'lectric cooler.

not having to worry about ice when camping is really nice....no need to go off site each day etc