Just bought a Hitachi R-F6800 2 weeks ago for CNY special buy.
Harvey Norman was selling at $5899 + $200 grocery vouchers, but i managed to nab it at Gain City for $5082 (after using my gain city points). They gave a free hitachi home & office air purifer (looks powerful worth $499) and a hitachi vacuum cleaner (worth $280+). the vacuum cleaner obviously was old model old stock so they were giving it away but it's newer and more powerful than my 6 yr old electrolux so...... OK not bad.
Have to say, after using a 6 door fully built and assembled in Japan compartmentalized fridge, I dont think i can ever go back to my F&B top freezer 2 door or korean side by side 2 door fridge ever again.
Yes, the F&P and the LG are quite big capacity for the price you pay (both about $1.3k) also but i have to say, the Hitachi is eff-ing quiet. I understand that yes I bought a high-end model so it is not representative of the made in Thailand models but i can only speak of what I have witnessed myself.
Sometimes at night when the TV is off I have to press the touch screen buttons just to make sure the fridge is on... it is extremely quiet, except during the hybrid defrosting cycle and making ice. When defrosting you will hear low hum and sound of radiator for maybe 20-30mins as it melts the ice around the coils. It doesn't happen often though. Maybe every few nights i hear it once.
The vacuum pressure compartment is what really made me fall in love with the machine. It stores the food at -1 C where ice should form, but because of the vacuum pressure, there is no ice formation in the meat/fish. also... when I marinate the chicken thigh for chicken chop night, noticed that it 90mins in vacuum pressure -1C was almost as if i marinated it at room temperature for 3hrs.
The blast freezer also damn solid. When i go to the Esso nearby and buy back my Ben & jerry's ice cream. normally have to wait 2hrs + before i can eat as it is too soft by the time i sprint home.
Instead, just put the whole tub on the aluminium heat transfer tray, wrap a wet paper towel around the tub of ice cream. put on blast freezer mode and in 20mins i can have really firm ice cream.
I'm a carnivore so the Aero-Care vegetable drawer not really useful for me. But my SO who loves veg loves this part of the fridge best. The chinese spinach, water cres, kai lan... all the veg with high moisture content can keep for damn long because of the CO2 blanketing feature.
You know when you go to Cold Storage and you get to the refrigerated vegetable section? There is that "smell" ... dont know how to describe it but you should know what i mean. I get that same "smell" when i open the veggie drawer.
Btw, i bought the fridge 2 weeks ago and the a couple of days later i filled it with vegetables for my SO to eat. the xiaobaicai leaves are still firm and crisp and not limp, even after 11 days in the fridge. Unbelievable.
The best part is that the fridge can compartmentalize temperature zones.
door 1 & 2 main compartment = +8 C
door 1 & 2 vacuum compartment = -1 C
door 3 ice maker box = -5 C
door 4 blast freezer = -20 C (-30 C when blast freezing)
door 5 main freezer = -15 C
door 6 aero-care veggie = +4 C
I liked the Panasonic initially, because of the champagne color fit well with my cookware and cabinets, and it was cheaper than the Hitachi. But in the end the vacuum box, the aero-care, the superior build quality, made me pay the 10% premium the Hitachi price had over the Panasonic.
Sorry if this post came off sounding like a fanboi.
For reference I had used an 528 liter LG side by side for 4 years (died 5 months after warranty expired) from Dec 2012 to Jan 2017. I had a 2 door top freezer F&P 480+ liter from 2009-dec2012. Also died shortly after warranty.
Before that I was using an Electrolux in a rented apartment so didn't pay attention. Before i stayed in a rented apartment, i was living with my parents and their 3 door Hitachi fridge which was made in Japan (they didn't outsource it yet). Which, today, after 14 years.... and many badly cracked plastic shelves and a squeaky door..... still almost as cold as the day it was bought.
P.S. Also wanted to say that I found a use for the aero-care drawer. there is a narrow vertical vegetable section for cucumbers, carrots and celery that SO doesn't use as she doesn't eat those kinds of things.... it is PERFECT for stacking a 6 pack Orion beer. And the beer also benefits from the 4 deg C temperature. ha ha.
(although my parents place using Samsung fridge for 2 years plus still ok and no complains of not cold enough).
