Sonic, your pellet ice monopoly has come to an end

I can admit, with the temperature dropping I'm sure the last thing on everyone's mind is "man, I could sure use some of that wonderful, easily chewable ice that few restaurant chains offer and I just can't seem to get at home". But for those of us ice-chewers, the craving can only really be satisfied if you commit to buying a bag from a chain or being forced to drink something from that place.

Oh the sweet, sweet, non-teeth-threatening allure of pellet ice

But the days of having to leave the home for pellet ice are over! Introducing the Firstbuild Opal Nugget Ice!

Look at all that ice

For a measly $500 dollars (traditional at-home pellet ice making machines evidently can have multi-thousand dollar price tags) you can get this handy machine that can churn out about 1 pound of ice per hour. It comes in at about 17 inches high, 10.5 inches wide and 15.5 inches deep. Similar in size to a small mini fridge, this ice queen is hefty, weighing around 44 pounds. But with its rectangular shape and rounded off corners, it is certainly aesthetically pleasing and will blend in with the rest of your usual suspects taking up your counter space. The front tray allows you to view ice production as it happens, and it can be hang at an angle (as seen above) for easy access or can come all the way out to offer ice to all of your friends. You can even link the machine to your phone or tablet (using Bluetooth) and control it via the mobile app. You can tell the machine to start and stop making ice, dim or brighten its LED ring, and make a regular schedule for ice to be made.

There are some downsides however. It's a loud machine, much like other icemakers. Although you won't have to worry about hearing large chunks of ice clanking around in this box, the pumps, vibrating compressor, and fan can emit quite a bit of sound. Also the water tank does not have a direct line, so you need to manually refill the water reservoir. Also, the water reservoir sits further back in the machine, which can make it hard to fill without spilling. The ice does not stay frozen either. Once it is created, the ice will eventually melt with the water returning to the reservoir, so if left unattended you could miss out on an entire ice cycle. This can also be somewhat gross, reusing the same old stagnant water over and over again.

Really, though, if you love pellet ice that much, these downsides aren't really an issue. Instead of putting the icemaker on your counter, put it in the pantry or a soundproof room. No direct water line? I'm sure you can MacGyver your way into fashioning some kind of easy-fill system. Doesn't stay frozen? Is that really even an issue? Not likely any of that ice is going to be sitting in there!

So if you're looking for an expensive gift to please your ice-chewing significant other, consider the Firstbuild Opal Nugget Ice machine. For more information, check out this CNET review, which says everything I just said but in a much more eloquent fashion.