Product review (4 stars): No room for a dishwasher? Think again!
An ex-coworker once gave me a sound bit of advice. He said when contemplating a purchase, a new job, or life change, one should judge it according to how it would affect the quality of your life. Well, after an extended visit to the In-laws, and using their under-counter dishwasher, we found ourselves once again wishing we could have a dishwasher to handle the moderate daily accumulation of glasses, bowls, and silverware that sit in the sink. Unfortunately, short of a total remodeling, there is no way to fit a traditional under-the-counter dishwasher in our kitchen. The Danby countertop proved to be the solution.

Is it small? Not exactly - it takes up quite a bit of counter space, and we had to shave a quarter inch off of one cabinet to make it fit. Is it quiet? As dishwashers go, it's not too bad, but it is up at ear level, so if you are in the kitchen while it is running, you know it. Is it easy to use? Yes, once you decipher the cryptic little symbols on the front. The thing that looks like a fried egg apparently is the international symbol for "drying with heat", and the button that controls whether the heating element is used is hard to figure out. There is no locking handle like on most under-counter models. You push the door closed until it clicks. This also takes a little practice until you gain confidence. Is it easy to install?  Yes. Other than the aforementioned cabinet mod, it was just hook up the hoses and plug it in. Oh, we did have to replace a non-standard thread Price-Phister faucet with a utilitarian Moen to get the quick-disconnect adapter to fit. BTW, they recommend you do NOT have a sprayer on the faucet to which you connect the dishwasher, as high back pressures could cause it to burst. Usually the connection for the sprayer can just be plugged.

Does it get the dishes clean? YES! Does it eliminate hand washing? Not entirely, partly because it doesn't hold much. (It is designed for plates, and we use a lot of bowls.) We have not yet tried to wash plastic things using the "no heat" setting, which only uses the temperature of the incoming water and not the heating element.

Has it improved our quality of life? You bet!

Minor quibbles: 1)The unit is very heavy, very shiny and slippery, and therefore hard to lift. (The unpacking instructions mention a handle...there is none.) If you are a senior or a small person, get some help to unpack and install it. 2) In order to use the quick-connect hose, you have to install an adapter piece on the end of your faucet. This piece, although it contains an aeration screen, has a very small opening, and it takes practice not to squirt water all over the place when you turn the water on when the washer is not connected. The inclusion of a quick-connect sprayer nozzle would be a great improvement on the product.