When I went to university, I decided that I wanted a little fridge in my room, just to keep milk and stuff in. I had no idea how much such things would cost, but I went down to Argos to see what they had available.

I was surprised at the wide range of small/portable coolers they had. The Retro Portable Cooler/Warmer stood out to me immediately. I really liked the design, plus it was on offer for £29.99. I wasn't really looking for a warmer, but I guessed that it would come in useful at some point.

The cooler comes in a typical cardboard box, with a picture of the appliance on the front. Along with the cooler, you get the AC lead, for plugging it into a normal plug and a DC lead for use in the car. You also get instructions on how to use the product. The design of the fridge is great. It's essentially a mini version of those retro American style fridges we are used to seeing in the movies. It's rounded at the corners, grey in colour with a silver handle to open the door as well as a handle for carrying, it's also available in pink. The inside is white with a shelf that can be removed. There is also a removable plastic compartment on the door, similar to a standard fridge. On the back of the cooler there is a fan, as well as a switch. On the switch the middle position turns the cooler off, the far left is the cooler function and the far right is the warmer function. When cooling a green light comes on, when warming a red light comes on.

It is claimed that it will cool up to 18-22 degrees C below room temperature. I was actually surprised by how well it worked. After letting it cool down for a few hours, I put some milk in to give it a trail run. I left the milk inside for 5 hours; on returning I found that it was as cold as it would've been if I'd had put it in a standard fridge. In terms of size, the cooler is 42cm in height, 33cm in width and 33cm in depth, with a 14-litre capacity. It claims to be able to hold 6 wine bottles or 12 regular size cans. I haven't tested the wine bottle claim, but have fit at least 8or9 440ml beer cans in there with room to spare. It can also fit two standard 4-pint milk bottles inside, again with room to spare. You can genuinely fit a lot of stuff in there, the trick is piling it up, but making sure it's stable so it doesn't fall all over the floor when you open the door.

I must admit that I never really used the warmer function much, mainly because it was normally full of stuff I needed to keep cold. It claims to heat up to around 60 degrees C. I've used it to keep hot drinks warm as well as things like sausage rolls. It does work really well, but bare in mind this isn't a cooker. I did once make the mistake of putting the warmer on instead of the cooler, needless to say the cheese didn't hold up well.

There is a slight humming noise when the cooler is running, similar to air con or a dehumidifier, it's a bit disturbing at first but you get used to it after a while. As far as using it in the car goes, I've only done this once. My call is small so the fridge would've been a bit bulky to fit in, but luckily the DC lead, which plugs into the cigarette lighter slot, is pretty long so I managed to stretch it through to the boot.

The cooler/warmer is on sale from Argos at the moment for £43.99. Although I didn't pay this much, I would still recommend buying this product. It works well, is easy to move about and most of all looks really good.