Koolatron P65, Kargo Portable Cooler & Warmer - White

I bought this cooler back in 2016 to keep things cold on long road trips. It’s still going and I’m still loving it. I like having the cooling unit on the lid because it will stay cooler that way and I don’t have to worry about setting the cooling fan too close to the rest of my gear and having the fan overheat. I just set it on top of a suitcase or plastic tote Or the back seat. It’s easier to access that way too. Just make sure to leave a little room on the inside near the cooling unit too. It will keep things about 40° cooler than room temperature, so if it’s sitting in 90° outside, your stuff will only stay about 50°. A cooler of ice would be better for that application. This is good to use in your car or house at 70°, which will cool things down to about 35° relatively easily. on a much longer trip you might find some things frozen. It’s nice to not have a bunch of water and ice soaking everything when you get to your destination too. It does help to “kickstart” the cooling process by placing some cold items in the cooler for a while before adding anything that needs to be cooled down. If/when mine dies, I will buy another without hesitation. I will say that it isn’t a large cooler, but is adequate for a small family.

This cooler only worked for two days before the compressor completely gave out. I ignored the warnings in other reviews and ordered it with one day shipping before a long (3500+ mile) road trip, but it failed before our trip even started. We brought it along anyway, because it was small enough to fit in the back seat. It still managed to keep things cool with a nightly refill of ice, but for the high price I expected the electronics to last more than two days. I suspect that the failures are caused by a design flaw: the compressor and associated electronics are built into the cooler lid, which can be oriented horizontally or vertically. Most refrigerator compressors are designed to run in a very specific orientation; the coolant and oil systems don't circulate fluids properly unless the compressor is upright. Even if this isn't the problem, the compressor may be taking damage every time you open and close the lid, particularly if you use it like a normal cooler with the door on top. If you decide to buy one of these, be certain to close the lid very gently, and to leave adequate room for ventilation around the air intake fan. That said, don't buy one. You will likely regret it.

I purchased this Kooler for camping trips. I received it intact, but when attempting to open the unit I tried to slide the black clasp and it cracked immediately and would not allow the lid to open. I, finally, had to just pull the black clasp off the unit and now I use the unit leaving the doors facing upward. The interior size is good and served my needs for a 5 day trip. It kept drinks and food items cold even when disconnected from 12v outlet for several hours.

FULL cooler = COLD items! Mostly EMPTY cooler = items not nearly as cold! Use it wisely and be super happy with it! (See below) This is a pretty handy little plug-in cooler. I was reluctant to buy it because of some comments that it doesn't get very cold, but there were enough positive reviews that I decided to take a chance. I'm glad I did. How cold the cooler will keep your stuff depends on how much you have in it and what you have in it. Firstly, make sure stuff is cold when you put it in. This is not a heavy duty fridge like you have in your kitchen ... nor is the price. So if you use it as intended, you will be happy. Secondly, how much you put in it will affect performance. If you only have a handful of things in it, it has a hard time maintaining a colder temp. So if you need to only refrigerate a few things ... easy solution ... put a gallon jug of COLD water in it along with the stuff you need to keep cold and it will maintain a colder temp much more easily. When I have lots of solid mass stuff in it like cans of soda, everything in it is super cold. When I have stuff like pasta (airy) & cold cuts and cheese and lots of free space, it has a harder time keeping the temp down in the exact same environment. Bottomline .... it's a great product for what it is & how it's intended to be used. If you use it "smart", following notations by the manufacturer, it won't disappoint. If you expect it to do something it's not designed to do (keep things cool while mostly empty inside) you WILL be disappointed ... it's not designed to work well like that ... put a COLD gallon jug of water in it to solve this issue, or a couple of COLD 2L bottles of pop. But keep it fuller as the emptier it gets the warmer your stuff will be. UPDATE (02/18/2014) As people said in reviews I read before I bought the product, the power supply unit gets quite hot, very hot sometimes, just sitting in the open. Well, one night a towel fell on it and thankfully it didn't start on fire, but the power supply unit did melt and died. So I bought an after market one which works just fine. So the power supply unit that comes with it, at least when I bought it, is dangerous because of how hot it gets, BUT the cooler is great. So just get an after market power supply and problem solved. :O)

My Kargo Kooler arrived damaged in a dented box without any interior packing materials. The lid doors were warped and a little loose, a screw was missing from a hinge, the cheap plastic lid latch did not work properly, and I could not use this cooler vertically as a "refrigerator" because the heavy bottom door sagged badly. Perhaps attaching the heavy cooling unit to a lid door is a design flaw of this model. The Kargo Kooler arrived a day before a 1600-mile road trip: I tested it en route to the Deep South in April as a chest cooler for exotic cheeses and a frozen pork roast, plugged into a socket in the cargo area of my Subaru Forester. I also splurged for the the optional AC adapter so I could plug it in at hotels. It cooled things superbly, despite lid problems. Yes, it may be a bit noisy in quiet office/home environments, but I did not notice its hum above road noise or the loud blasts of heating/cooling in highway hotel rooms. My unit was obviously damaged from shipping, so I'm returning it to Amazon for a refund. Just check the lid covers and hinges very closely for damage and/or defects if you order this item. I liked this enough to give Koolatron a second chance: I just ordered Koolatron's slightly smaller rolling mini-fridge model which may better suit my needs, has an adjustable thermostat, and should tuck away nicely and discreetly under the cargo area blind of my Subaru.

I bought this on impulse two years ago for our annual two-day road trip to south Utah. It worked beautifully not only keeping our drinks and snacks cool on the road, but as a mini-fridge in our motel rooms at night and during our stay. Now I use it for all our road trips, short and long and even use it when shopping for frozen/perishable food items in the summer time. I love that valuable cooler "real estate" isn't taken up with ice packs, and that I don't have to remember to freeze said ice packs prior to leaving. I do wish the unit included the household adapter, but that is an additional (and imho worthwhile) purchase. It is designed to used as a chest or upright unit and comes with two adjustable shelves that work with either orientaion. I find if I plug the unit in the night before our trip, it is well cooled and ready to go the next morning. It is also well insulated, so if you need to unplug it for any reason, it keeps items cold for several hours - great for an outdoor picnic. I would make this purchase again and recommend it to my friends.

I bought this cooler in 2017 and used it almost daily in my car even under extremely hot Texas summer conditions. I'd put a few ice packs in with my items during the hottest summer months to help keep things cooler when parked and it kept everything nicely cool for over 4 years. When it stopped cooling, I purchased the same model which worked well for about six months. It then developed a loud clacking noise and stopped cooling. The company quickly replaced the cooler since it was still under warranty but the replacement has developed the same loud clacking noise and isn't cooling as well just two months into use.

I bought one of these in April and it died in August--just about four months, which is the shortest I've ever had for one of these coolers. I can usually get a year or more from them. Additionally, the door (which works like a Dutch door, split in top and bottom) is not particularly convenient. The latch slides up and down, and because the box itself is too large to fit on a desk comfortably (at least for my desk), it has to sit on the floor, and that makes it harder to open and close the door. It did cool adequately while it worked, though, and it's large inside. I found I had to defrost it more often than I'm used to. The ice on the cooling unit gets very thick very quickly.

Cools well. We have had it for 4 years, run it almost nonstop the whole summers and still works. We had to fix the door hinges with glue and clean the fan a few times but still works well and keeps everything plenty cool on hot days. We have it in a van in the fridge position and it's super convenient.

Great for when I travel keeps my food and juice cool.

Terrible. Got it. Put it in the lorry thought happy days good fridge kept everything cool as was meant to. Second time turning on it just overheated. Fan wouldn’t come on.

Update: I have de-rated from two stars to one star. The customer service is extremely poor. We are going to move away from this product as the company is extremely unreliable. I have concerns about the product due to the rest of the service is so poor. The cooler works well. The cooling function replaces ice quite adequately (this is not a refrigerator and will not cool down food or drinks). Did not test the heating function. The unit doesn't have a switch, the cord is plugged in in reverse to affect heating. This is a bit cheezy. The insulation works well considering how thin the walls are. The split lid is handy. The sliding lock is a bit wobbly. It is still working, but is no very sturdy. The biggest issue is customer service. I have been trying to get answers from them for weeks. No responses to email, and no one but the warehouse guy will answer the phone. After several weeks, this has become a frustration not worth dealing with Koolatron.

Got one exactly the same back in 1995 and used it for a fridge in many over the road trucks that cooler has over a million miles on it , the wiring needs a little attention, so I thought I would see what else might be available on the great web, I was so happy to see that this model was still on the Market it was a complete no brainer, I just had to have another and it is just great.