Okay results for the price.

We purchased this after the Maytag in the house we newly moved into was recalled. Prior to that, I'd lived with a cheapo 20+ year old dishwasher I'd only run when I left for work,as to not listen to two hours of grinding. With the Maytag I didn't have to even rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, and they came out sparkling clean. However, after one glorious wash, there was an endless puddle on the floor, then we discovered the recall.

We searched and researched every model in the $400-$600 price range-compared and debated. I found a KitchenAid I really wanted (with three full sprayer arms and a stainless steel tub) at Lowes for around $450, but they didn't deliver to our area. So, the search resumed. Reading the other two reviews, and after weeks of handwashing (I don't remember hating it so much growing up in a house where I was the dishwasher). Although the Whirlpool only had a sprayer, not the full arm at the top level, it had all of the other features we were looking for, including a power scour setting. I didn't think I'd use the "delay" setting, but it comes in handy when you have a well, and you're trying to do laundry and take showers at the same time (set the delay for an hour).

I found that the outside cycle minute "countdown" is kind of useless. It seemed to sit at the number of minutes remaining for sometimes a half an hour, sometimes even increased, then 5 minutes later, it was done.

This had the highest sound rating (57 I believe-the norm seemed to be around 52-54), out of those in our price range. The next highest rating(meaning quietest) was 58, but cost $899. It's quiet enough that in our open floor plan, you can almost forget about it, except when it clicks into a different cycle. You can hear the water splashing inside, which I really didn't expect, but that's about the extent of noise. Totally bareable, and one could easily carry on a conversation or talk on the phone right next to it without much interferance.

I like the adjustable racks, very easy to adjust with two buttons and they are very solid feeling-some of the washers with 4 adjustable clips didn't feel as sturdy. I almost always seemed to lose or break off the snap-on wheels of the older models, so this was a concern to me. By raising the rack, you can put very tall items such colanders or big pasta pot in the bottom with plenty of room for the middle sprayer to rotate. There are also rows of the metal tines that fold down to help accomodate larger pans.

After experimenting with the cycles which include rinse, pots and pans, glassxpress, we found that the "adaptive wash" setting seems to work the best. I do also select the "high temp" wash because we keep our water heater set lower due to children (sani-wash, heated dry and powerscour are additional settings) and it is recommended that the water temp be 120 degrees going into the machine.

Adaptive wash is an automatic setting that determines how dirty the dishes are by sensing the particles in the water after giving them a good spray. It automatically turns on the heated dry, which I find to be unnecessary. There is also a "rinse" feature, which if you're not going to run the dishwasher right away, you should run, but it seemed to run so long that it makes more sense to pre-rinse the dishes by hand (in spite of claims that it isn't necessary).

I was underimpressed with the results-it was okay, but not completely spotless. Unlike the Maytag (using the same hard water), glasses always come out with a hardwater film, in spite of using the recommended rinse aid. The results are sort of hit/miss- some come out spotless with everything clean (even without prewashing) and some come out dirty even with prewashing (yes, I've checked to make sure nothing is blocking the sprayer arms). It's typical to have one or two things to have a dark powdery residue that easy brushes off, (which I feel safer rewashing by hand). It doesn't make sense that if it easily brushes off, it didn't come off in the rinse cycle. When I used the Maytag, it was essentially under the same circumstances and the dishes had NO residue nor were items missed. The biggest difference between the two models was that the Maytag had a third top sprayer arm, not just the mini-sprayer this Whirlpool has. There is also a new Maytag at my work and we pile everything in without even rinsing or carefully placing and it all comes out spotless.

The power scour was a feature I really wanted, since we always have messy pans after cooking. They are a set of "heavy duty" sprayers located at the bottom rear of the washer that constantly direct jets of water towards pans (or heavily dirtied dishes)you load at the rear. The results afterward still required me to rewash by hand, so (to my dismay, since this seemed like a "must have" feature) I've only used this feature once or twice.

Another feature I wanted was the ability to move the silverware tray to the door, for more space. Realistically, the silverware just doesn't get clean there. I do like having the long, narrow basket though as opposed to the rectangular basic that is standard with most dishwashers. It gives more space for dishes. An immediate "annoyance" is that someone had the bright idea to design the basket so that the whole front of the tray can flip open. Evidently, the idea is that you'd lay this flat near your silverware drawer, open it and easily lift the silverware out. Well, almost immediately, the bracket that's supposed to hold everything got bent or something. As a result, it barely holds itself shut and often pops open, spewing silverware all over the dishwasher as you try to place an item in it (or take silverware out).

In retrospect, I wish we'd gotten the Maytag, but this still performs extremely well for the price.

****UPDATE*** After months of trying various detergents, I used the powder "Cascade Complete" with bleach, AND used the "pots and pans" setting, instead of the "adaptive" and the dishes, glasses and silverware are ALL sparkling. I ran out and used a cheap brand I had left over and again, the dishes didn't come quite as clean. Nonetheless, go for the Maytag if you have a choice. I use the one at work often with baked on, dirty, non-rinsed dishes and there's never so much as a smudge left-no matter how crammed it is.