I went "cheap" because it was a good way to figure out what I actually needed. It was a low cost of entry and has worked fine. It's never failed in the field and has always kept the food and, more importantly, the beer cold. If it weren't making such a racket (which appears to be an isolated case), I'd probably keep it for another season before consigning it to patio duty and replacing with a nicer fridge. Having used it for many trips, I've discovered that I really need a slightly larger fridge and prefer it to have side-opening lids. It's also helped me understand power consumption and what I really need. The cheap units like the Costway burn a TON of amp hours compared to more efficient known brands such as ARB, Dometic, Snomaster, Engel, etc. They'l work fine overnight, but you aren't running them for 24 hours in the Texas summer without having to crank your engine to recharge the battery. The know brands use about 1/3 to as little as 1/4 the amp hours as the Costway. Finally, the cheap ones have practically zero warranty. They break/fail, you toss and replace. I was actually fine with that figuring I was only paying $300 or so and could figure out what I really needed when it came time to upgrade. It wouldn't hurt near as bad as paying $1k for a fridge and then realizing that you needed a bigger one and wanted side opening lids. That would have been an expensive mistake
In the end, I think the cheaper fridges have their place. Many can't afford to dish out $1k+ for a fridge. Just like they can't fork over $1k+ for ARB or BAJA designs lights. They get something that can largely address their minimal needs and not bang the pocketbook hard. Weekend warriors who camp up to 10x per year could see a benefit from the cheaper options. For more frequent and longer excursions (3+ days) away from civilization, the more expensive/reputable brands start to separate themselves quickly.
