Whirlpool ENERGY STAR® DU850SWPQ 24 in. Built-in Dishwasher

Pros: Good rack design, inexpensive, gets the job done.
Cons: the noise factor

Our last two dishwashers have been budget GE models (the first lasted for 20 years, the second blew out after 6 years. No more GE for us), so that is the basis for comparison. I can't speak for longevity, since we just bought and installed the ...

Pros: High temperature boost setting; Delayed start option
Cons: No digital readout; Utensil basket too small; Loud noise

Washing dishes is one of the few household chores that don’t really bother me very much. Even if I have to wash the old fashioned way with a dish rag and soapy water, I don’t find the task as bad as others. Still, I am not one to say no to anything that ...

Pros: Reliable, does OK job of cleaning dishes.
Cons: Timer ticks too loudly, NOISY!!

We purchased this unit for our condo which was being rented out at the time. It was a bare-bones model and did an average job of getting the dishes clean. We've since moved back into the condo ourselves and with the open plan kitchen/dining/living room ...

Pros: price
Cons: washing, noise, and loading

This is an economy dishwasher that shaved a bit too much off the objective-washing dishes. While I can appreciate leaving off a lot of fancy features for economy, it should at least clean the majority of the dishes. Unfortunately it tends to leave a lot of particles on the dishes and then bakes it on. This might be from the lack of an impeller on the top rack which relies on a jet from the bottom hitting a deflector plate and splashing over the dishes. Loading the racks is difficult as the entire rack layout is uniform and small which makes larger and irregular items impossible to fit such as soup bowls, plastic food containers, etc. The door does not lie flat when opened which does not improve the operation. Noise is loud and is difficult if not impossible to have a conversation in the same room when washing. When not washing the timer clicks quite audibly. In short, if the dishwasher actually washed the dishes fairly well I could put up with it. As it is we will be replacing it fairly soon.

Pros: Cheap
Cons: defective, pain to load, doesn't clean well

We bought this dishwasher to replace an old one from the 80's. We figured anything would be better than that one. This dishwasher does not clean well. In the final rinse it leaves food particles on the outside of items. It is a pain to load and things don't fit well. BUT, most of all, ours was defective and doesn't click off. It will stay on drying until you turn it off. And just gets hotter and hotter. The first time we ran it, we watched during the wash and rinse to make sure there were no leaks, then went to bed. I woke up at 3:00 in the morning and it was still "drying." It got so hot in there that it melted my nice Pampered Chef pitcher. I would watch this one for a recall in the future. Ours went right back!

Pros: It cost very little upfront; cleans dishes.
Cons: Doesn't utilize space well; sometimes doesn't rinse well.

I discovered that the weight of a 3-year-old jumping on an open dishwasher door is enough to ruin the dishwasher. So we had to buy a new one. The problem was, we are going to redo our kitchen. So we actually looked for a "bridge" unit that was cheap but good. We went with this machine, that we bought for about $300. And it has worked OK for us for what we need it for. It DOES a fair job in cleaning our dishes. It DOES NOT utilize its space well and get everything rinsed as well as other dishwashers I've owned in the past.

For the price I think it is a great value. It gets the job done. It's quiet and quick. I love the amount of space for dishes, cups, etc. I like how I can open the door after the dishwasher has been started and it picks up where it left off without having to reprogram it. I wish they would make dishwashers like they used to where you can change the outside color panels.