I have never had a dishwasher (honest!) and we are putting one in our new kitchen. I am not sure what features to look for- I have 2 teenage boys and a husband that does the cooking. I anticipate some holiday family gatherings at my house but most of the time we cook for 4. My husband makes complete meals, not a lot of fast food, and we eat a lot of wild game and fresh veges from the garden. Any advice? Thanks folks!!

I've always had just the "basic" (builder-installed) dishwasher. However they've always had at least 3 cycles that gave me all the flexibility I needed: rinse-and-hold, light-wash, and pot-scrubber-wash. The next time I get a dishwasher, I'm going to make sure it's one of the quieter ones. You might also want to look into the dishwashers that can be reconfigured for different size utensils. Parts of the racks lay down or stand up. I thought the new 2-drawer dishwashers would be ok but I've read that the performance is poor.

My (newer) Frigadaire dw is quiet and has settings for sanitize, china, normal, light and can run either the top rack, lower rack or both, of course. Had it for about a year - like it a lot.

I currenly have a maytag it is 7 years old this year and we love it. Only option it does not have is for china and holding wine glasses.

It is a quiet one, holds a lot of plate settings.. I love the fact that I can open it any time durring the cycle and put more things in. You can use a pre set cycle for when your not home ,it will turn on it's self.
While I love this maytag.. I would not suggest the new ones because maytags quality has gone down.
If I were looking for a new one .. I think I would look at Bosch or GE.. since you have a family of 4 maybe look at the ones that have two drawer.. so you can opperate them at different times. I would deffinely get one that can do china and wine glasses. Make sure they have enough room to put a few pots in them or corning ware. ( removable racks..)
Oh and make sure it is energy star rated

You can also post this in the orginization section.. there is a person that can help you there.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chelsey1,

Bosch.

We just bought a Bosch. It cleans a huge amount of dishes & utensils. It's so quiet you can't tell if it's running.

...screamer

Thanks all, I have been looking at a Bosche, especially because the db rating seems to be the best for noise, but I hesitate because it is so much more expensive. I will defininetly look at making sure the dw can hold wine glasses and such.
I am starting to really like these forums!

Black Boshe= $698
Black Frigidaire= $450

They have comparable features but the Boshe has a lower db for quietness. Otherwise, any reason to pay the extra $ for Bosch?

Can't speak for Frigidaire, but the Bosch has stainless tank, extremely quiet, cleans wonderfully ... plus a host of other technical things