Product review (5 stars): Great little machine.  And there is something very interesting about it.
This was a perfect transaction.  I looked at all of the models of 18 inch dishwashers and all of them had their pluses and minuses;  even the most expensive models.  The SPT was truly no worse in its reviews and it was a LOT less expensive.
It arrived on time.  It had excellent packaging.  The delivery was up six steps to our front porch by UPS and that was perfect.

I was replacing a GE 18 inch washer because it was 10 years old and the pump was failing.  It was a very tight space and the specifications for the SPT were exact so it fit in perfectly into the slot.  I originally  installed the GE by myself and had to replace a few parts along the way so I am probably considered experienced in doing my own work.  But, I learned how to do my own work by reading the manual, asking a few questions at the local hardware store and just taking my time.  Thus, while i would not say that installing this is easy for an inexperienced person,  I am saying that it is possible to do on your own.  In contrast to some other reviews, the installation guide was very good, readable, and thorough.
One of the reasons we liked this and probably one of the reasons it is cheaper is that it does not have the heating phase to quickly dry the dishes when the cycle is over.  We actually found this to be a negative aspect of the GE because, well, really hot stuff is somewhat scary.  We turned that feature off on the GE and the dishes were always dry when we finally took them out of the washer.

Now to the interesting part.  In comparing the SPT  to our old model of GE (which looks remarkably like the current model of the 18 inch GE),  there are differences in the front panel and the interior  BUT, having installed, fixed, and ripped out the GE,  it looks an awful lot like, to my somewhat experienced eyes,  the guts of the GE machine (motor, pump, wiring, etc) are exactly the same as the SPT.  I would actually bet money that, whoever makes the current $899 GE  also makes the innards of the $300 SPT.  There are some differences - most notably the heating phase - but not that many differences.
The washer is working fine, it comes in at 55 decibels,  it takes a bit longer to cycle than the GE (the last fifteen minutes of the timer truly don't seem to do anything other than let the dishes dry of their own accord so subtract 15 minutes off the estimated times to get the actual wash time)
Great little machine.  I expect it to last 10 years and then I'll go buy another one.