I bought the Wintersmiths ice chest this summer, added the clear cubes tray insert so I can make both balls and cubes. The ice turns out perfectly clear. They look great in cocktails.
It might just be a psychological thing, but I do think the drinks taste better with clear ice, all the air and impurities pushed out of the ball or cube during the freeze. At least, that's what it looks like to me. Now when I have a drink with cloudy ice, I think I'm tasting all the impurities in the Austin water. Again, it may be a psychological effect, but it seems like a cleaner taste to me with clear ice.
The ice chest does take some space in the freezer, so I only leave the chest in the freezer while it's making ice. I make ice in runs, so I'll make a set of 4 balls or cubes for 3 days in a row to get 12 pieces. I just keep those in a Ziploc freezer bag and store the ice chest in the pantry until I need to make some more ice.