The marine fridge will run when not level (the boat is rocking), it will
switch from 12v to 120v automatically, it will take the pounding and abuse
that the dorm refrigerator will not take. The built in inverter will run
only when the thermostat is calling for cooling, saving power.


I think you mean built-in compressor.

Marine fridges are almost all DC by nature. Some will also run on AC when a
converter, like a battery charger, changes the power to DC. :-)

The guy who is considering buying a WAL MART fridge and a $50 inverter to save
money? 1) He'll spend more dough for the batteries to run such a setup than a
far more efficient marine refirgerator would cost and 2) Rube Goldberg
solutions are not usually successful in the long run. 3) Is there a $50
inverter that will run a refrigerator?