Yet another dishwasher thread: Budget edition

[Jeff7]

Yes, I've searched. And I've slogged through some of the pages of useless results that Google gives when you look for "review" on anything - most of it's just pages mining for ad hits, or less-than-thorough reviews.

My priorities:
- It needs to clean dishes well. You'd think this would be a given, but from what I have seen, manufacturers of dishwashers seem to think otherwise.

- Built-in food disposal. None of this "pre-rinsing" BS. If I'm going to have to do that, I might as well just wash them by hand. (Though I don't know what kind of chunks of food most people might leave on dishes before washing them.)

- Longevity. Ok, so a low-cost unit might not last 200 years. But I don't want to be fixing it the day after the warranty expires.

- Budget: Ohhhhh, I don't know. <$400 would be nice.



Noise doesn't much matter to me. If a little noise means that I'm not the one washing dishes, I don't care. 🙂
And I also don't care about drying cycles. I plan to use the drying cycle my parents used: Let the dishes sit and dry overnight. What's the rush to get the things heat or towel-dried and put away, anyway?


This Amana ADB1500AWQ was made out to sound decent in one review. Might anyone have any experience with it? I can't say I've ever heard of the Amana brand though.


Kenmore 15104.
Kenmore I have heard of, and my parents and grandparents have owned quite a few Kenmore appliances with very few problems. Mixed reviews online though.

 

[summit]

i'd get a whirlpool. i've had mine for 4 years, no problems. costco ftw.

 

[sjwaste]

Does anyone have any similar advice for an 18" dishwasher? That's the only cabinet I can lose near the sink.

 

[zerocool84]

Dishwasher threads are babe threads

Ban

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: Summit
i'd get a whirlpool. i've had mine for 4 years, no problems. costco ftw.

Got mine from Sears.

 

[Bignate603]

I'd just go with whatever model you can find on your local craigslist that fits your needs. People are tight on money and some are losing their homes so there are people selling off relatively new appliances very cheaply.

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
- Built-in food disposal. None of this "pre-rinsing" BS. If I'm going to have to do that, I might as well just wash them by hand. (Though I don't know what kind of chunks of food most people might leave on dishes before washing them.)

Forget this feature. It doesn't work. It doesn't work just as well on expensive machines as it doesn't work on cheap machines. It's a buzz phrase to sell machines, like digital zoom; it means nothing.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Bignate603
I'd just go with whatever model you can find on your local craigslist that fits your needs. People are tight on money and some are losing their homes so there are people selling off relatively new appliances very cheaply.

Not nearly enough.

Then you have the idiots. - "Dishwasher - $50."
Open the listing. "Brand new, asking $600."
😕

Most of what I see there is either way overpriced, fairly old (appliances), or fairly old (listings).

And I guess I'd have to rent a U-Haul van to do the pickup.
Plus find someone to help drag the thing into the building. (If there's a washer or dryer cheap on Craigslist, I might spring for one or both of them, too.)


How long do listings usually stay on Craigslist? Are people good about removing listings once the items sell?

 

[lizardboy]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

How long do listings usually stay on Craigslist? Are people good about removing listings once the items sell?

How do you have 25K+ posts and not know how CL works?

 

[seemingly random]

I would hope that you can get what you're asking for < 300. The main difference between this level and $2x is noise reduction and electronic control.

Go to any (or several) appliance stores and tell them what you've said here.

Don't buy on the first trip - ever.

Believe it or not, installation is pretty simple if you have some basic tools and common sense. You would need to find a way to dispose of the old one.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: lizardboy

Originally posted by: Jeff7

How long do listings usually stay on Craigslist? Are people good about removing listings once the items sell?

How do you have 25K+ posts and not know how CL works?

1) Grew up in a town where the cows outnumbered the hicks, and that wasn't easy - some of the local hicks bred like crazy.:shocked:

2) Then moved near a larger city, but that was for college. Yearly income = -$$$ = very little buying.

3) The site's search engine makes Fusetalk's look like Google from the year 2300.

So there. 😛

Originally posted by: seemingly random
I would hope that you can get what you're asking for < 300. The main difference between this level and $2x is noise reduction and electronic control.

Go to any (or several) appliance stores and tell them what you've said here.

Don't buy on the first trip - ever.

Believe it or not, installation is pretty simple if you have some basic tools and common sense. You would need to find a way to dispose of the old one.

Why never on the first trip? Just to do comparison shopping or what?


Installation: I'm not concerned about that. 🙂

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
...
Why never on the first trip? Just to do comparison shopping or what?


Installation: I'm not concerned about that. 🙂

Yes + eliminates the possibility of a decision based on emotions or sales pressure. This general rule has saved me several bad decisions - especially when shopping cars.

 

[lxskllr]

Use an old washcloth. It's free, and does a better job than any machine can. An even better washcloth can be made from old thermal shirts. The waffle knit seems to help with scrubbing.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
Use an old washcloth. It's free, and does a better job than any machine can. An even better washcloth can be made from old thermal shirts. The waffle knit seems to help with scrubbing.

Except I'd need some sort of human-based operator for this "washcloth" device you speak of. 😉

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: lxskllr
Use an old washcloth. It's free, and does a better job than any machine can. An even better washcloth can be made from old thermal shirts. The waffle knit seems to help with scrubbing.

Except I'd need some sort of human-based operator for this "washcloth" device you speak of. 😉

Good excuse to go out and get a girlfriend :^P