What's the best home water dispenser/stand?

[Blarg]

I've always liked Arrowhead water, and here in L.A., the tap water is often really nasty, so I'm used to buying water.

I went to Arrowhead's site, and their dispenser section is full of unclickable links for more info on their dispensers. I'd like one that that gives hot and cold water, and most all of them do, but the sparse info there doesn't tell you anything about the functional differences between dispensers costing $130 and $250. There are two white dispensers there with a $30 price difference and there's no info at all about the why you'd want to spend or save the extra $30.

Before I make any decisions anyway, does the OOT crowd have any knowledge on what the best dispensers are or do? I know some independent companies make dispensers, and some companies even have lead fixtures in their dispensers that can leach lead right into your water -- very scary. Problem is, I don't remember which ones.

Any OOT opinions/recommendations?

[Dynasty]

I was thinking of buying one of those things which you attach to your fawcet and cleans tap water. Any ideas?

BTW, this is how the search function is properly used.

[Alobar]

I would just get a reverse osmosis setup, its hella cheaper, and less hassle, for the same water quality.

p.s. Cue dynasty and some lame comment.....oops...to late

[Blarg]

LOL, I figured the chances of this being discussed before were probably approaching zero. Thanks for the helpful reminder on what a search function is, though. Way to go.

The things that attach to your faucet supposedly expose the water to filters for too short a run, and too short a time, to do much.

[Blarg]

I've read that the reverse osmosis method is a good one, but I live in an apartment, and don't really want to have to hassle the landlord to get his permission, and wind up paying just to improve his property.

I wound up getting a hot/cold standalone dispenser. Cost me like $140 or something, but I'll probably be able to use it approximately forever. I drink a fair amount of water, and drink even more when it's extra cold or already hot for tea, so it's worth the convenience for me.

L.A. water sucks and is kinda scary to read about sometimes. I don't care how much they process sewage, I still don't feel all that comfortable about drinking it, and if you've got old or bad pipes anywhere along the line, you can pick up contamination no matter how clean the water starts out. L.A. water generally tastes funky because of it too, and smells funny.