First dishwasher please

[Wednesday6]

I am finally getting my first dishwasher for our little family of 3! I'm so excited! Which one have you got and what features would you recommend or not bother?

I don't see a point of WiFi..for example.
but I'm quite keen to see which cutlery racks you prefer? The basket at the bottom shelf or third slim rack on top? I can't decide! Which brands? I desist and Bosch I guess? It has to be freestanding and the budget is £500 tops.

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MNHQ

I've had my integrated Bosch for 16 years and it's still going strong

We always had a dishwasher but moved 6 months ago and haven't had one since then. Just got one in since yesterday and it's amazing having it back.

I think the ones with the 3rd tray on top are more popular but I've had both and prefer the cutlery basket, the top tray is just such a faff, I find the basket much handier. Also find things fit much better when just the 2 levels.

I had a zanussi and a candy and couldn't find fault with either. The zanussi went to my parents when we upgraded our kitchen to integrated appliances and it's still going strong, now 17 years old.

Just to prove that it takes allsorts, I'm going to totally agree and say that I much prefer a cutlery tray!! But like Ihaveaskedyouthrice we have had cheap and more expensive dishwashers and they have performed broadly the same. Our Seimens did project the cycle time onto the floor, which I liked but I'm not sure was particularly helpful. Basically anything is better than doing the dishes yourself.

I have a Whirlpool which has been irritating for years, finally died a couple of days ago. I got an engineer out and he said he often sees the same thing with Whirlpool, Hotpoint and Indesit. They're all the same company and apparently just aren't very good. He said Candy/Hoover are also the same company and also not great.

My parents have had a Bosch for nearly 20 years and it's been brilliant.

I stayed in a holiday home with a Miele, which didn't wow me, I found it hard to believe they're over £1000! I did like the cutlery tray but you can find that on other models now, I found a Bosch one earlier which had it, nearly went for it but they couldn't deliver until 6th January and I'm refuse to go that long without a dishwasher!

Definitely get one with a quick wash e.g 90 minutes or less (wash and dry). Some cycles are extremely long but our 90 minute cycle does a brilliant job. We have the cutlery box at the bottom and this works well. Ours has fold out shelves on the top shelf but we don't use them, they're too flimsy and small for anything useful. Ours is a zanussi.

Mine is a Neff.10 years old no issues. I prefer a cutlery basket. in laws have a tray and I hate handling dirty cutlery to put it in the right place.
1 thing I'd choose as an extra is a timer option to put it on at night.

I would look on ao.com they usually have a good selection and decent prices.Also you can get fitted in.Provided your pipes under tap are ok in first place.(long story) A slimline would prob do for 3.And they do hold more than you'd think.

Bosch with a cutlery tray . Our last one had a basket and the tray was a must for me when choosing the new one . Also get one that is quiet and does a fairly quick wash.

Bosch, every time.

Bosch

I work in the kitchen industry and you can’t go wrong with a mid level Bosch. Series 4 or 6. Good prices. Good customer service (make sure you register it for warranty).

The last one I bought was a Hisense from ao. Reviews were good but I definitely wouldn't buy one again. The racks are plastic coated but the plastic has cracked and the metal is rusting. Several prongs have broken off. Now saving for a different make.

With some of the WiFi enabled machines you can download additional programmes. I was like you but all Bosch ones seem to come with the WiFi now but the useful thing is to download the additional programmes, they do a super quick programme in the downloads at 28 minutes.