Tall Dark and Handsome

I bought this dishwasher about a month ago and have been very happy with it. Its a beautiful dishwasher in black (almost disappears but gleams at the same time) It has seven cycles, a extra heated rinse option (which I always use), and a handy five hour delay. I love the intuitive control panel across the top. The buttons are so clear and easy to use. The more expensive model has a scrolling menu which frankly looked like a PITA. If you want to run the same cycle as last time just hit "start" and your on your way.

My dishes have come out fabulously clean and sparkly with absolutely no rinsing...even an oatmeal pot. It took a week or two to figure out the best way to load heavily soiled pots and pans, which is actually on their side with the bottom of the pan facing the door. There are some special jets that give an extra boost to that front area. I use 1/2 of an electrasol tablet and sometimes a quarter of one in the prewash well. Everything comes out very dry, even plastic, with the air intake fan. There is no steam exhaust.

I must admit the dishwasher isn't as quiet as I expected. I don't hear any motor noise but I definitely hear sloshing water noise...as if there were someone playing in the bathtub. The noise is less when the dishwasher is heavily loaded...more when running just top or bottom. I can definitely hear it in my living room (30-40) feet across an open floor plan if the house is completely quiet. However if there are 3 people talking in the kitchen I don't think anyone would notice the dishwasher running. This is an island installation with thin paneling on the back side so that could be part of it.

I love the fact that it is so energy efficient and water efficient...never have to worry about running out of hot water. I think probably my favorite feature is the inline water heater that heats the water for the wash...making for some very clean dishes and no problem setting our hot water tank to 120.

It is slightly smaller than a standard cabinet opening and my cabinet opening turned out to be slightly larger than normal. This led to some empty space that my DH has filled with foam to prevent water splashes. I can't see the gap really when the door is closed.

I went back and forth between this and the Miele and chose this partly because the racks were so flexible with the fold down tines and for whatever reason the miele at the store had racks that jerked all around when sliding in and out. I love the cup racks. The silverware basket is just fine and actually will hold several days worth of silverware and still get sparkly clean. it has two covered compartments for all the sippy cup valves and other little goodies.

I definitely think paying more for a dishwasher with an inline heater is a good choice. I never have to worry about melting plastic and the super hot water does a fantastic job of washing the dishes.

UPDATE: 11/2/06

We have been using this faithful workhorse now for a full year. It works wonderfully and I love not having to rinse. The filter rarely gets dirty. I had to clean it yesterday because I washed a rice pan with caked on rice. Now the pot and everything else was spotless but there was a little pile of rice in the bottom on the filter.

I've realized listening to other folks' dishwashers (who would do that ?) that it is no noisier than other "quiet" dishwashers. For some strange reason I expected silence.

Pots and pans loading is actually easier now that I read the manual again...there is a special jet on the rear left spot on the bottom rack..this is where the icky pans go.

I also discovered that the top rack actually does come out and the upper spray arm comes off so that I can fit both of my furnace filter units in there for cleaning. It isn't a mentioned feature but it works just great.

Now that I've had it for a full year I can definitely say it was worth the money!
UPDATE 10/08
Bad news. The dishwasher developed a leak during the summer, which tripped the overfill warning (at least it didn't flood the kitchen!). It took 6 visits and 3 months to finally get it fixed. Fortunately it was still under manufacturer's warrantee 2.5 years later, but ugghh I don't want to hand wash all my dishes for 3 months again. It is now fixed and seems to work as well as new, but boy was that inconvenient! The repairman said the most likely cause of the leak was too much soap. I tried to be careful, but he suggested that I use granulated powder instead of breaking tabs, because its easier to measure. I am now using BioKleen powder with great success, at about 1/2 Tbsp. per load, divided between the two cups.