Product review (5 stars): Best dishwasher we've had in years that actually CLEANS
Don't be scared off by the negative reviews because we are THRILLED with this dishwasher!

Our dishwasher of 5 years recently died and we really wanted one that would LAST this time. I did a ton of online research (and interviewed some friends concerning their experiences with dishwashers) and found that the Bosch brand is one of the best as far as longevity. We got this one from the Ascenta series because it was one of the most affordable models.

I'm so glad we got it. My husband was able to install it himself without any problems. We've had it for several months (UPDATE: We've had it for nearly a year) and haven't had ANY issues. It looks nice (and the exterior doesn't seem to pick up tons of fingerprints, etc.). It has plenty of settings without being overwhelming: Heavy wash, auto wash, normal wash and half load. You also have the option to sanitize the dishes with a super hot rinse. There is a button to turn it on and off and lights that tell you if an active wash is going, if the dishes are clean, if they are sanitized and if you need rinse aide. You can also delay the start for 3, 6 or 9 hours. All of the buttons are clearly marked and nothing is the least bit confusing. The door automatically closes if it's a certain distance away from the counter and it has no problem latching. I really like the dish detergent dispenser. Unlike our old dishwashers that had a hinged door (that invariably wouldn't close after awhile or would clog with half used detergent) - this one has a slide down door that works perfectly. We use dishwasher detergent tabs and not a single one has clogged or caused problems. There is also a dispenser you can fill with rinse aide. You open a little door and just pour it in there to the fill line. A dispenser light comes on -on the front panel, when you need to refill it.

When the dishwasher is running it's very quiet. Not so quiet that you can't hear it, but you can comfortably converse and sometimes I have to check...is it still on because I don't notice it. You can hear some trickling water sounds like when it first starts and when its actively spraying.

Now for the important part: Does it clean?? YES. It does the BEST job of any dishwasher I've EVER had. The dishes come out sparkling. We have very hard water so our previous dishwashers never got our dishes very clean. The dishes always came out spotted at the very least. Sometimes we would even have to rewash dishes. You'd have to practically wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Not anymore. Every dish, including the silverware, comes out squeaky clean. We've never had anything plastic melt either (as we have had happen with other dishwashers where the heating element was really close to the bottom rack). You can pack dishes in (as we've done a few times) thinking it might be iffy if some of them come out totally clean due to weird angles or whatever - but no, every time everything has come out perfect! We always use the auto wash and sanitize (with rinse aide). I'm SO happy to have a dishwasher finally work the way it's supposed to, even with our horrible hard water.

The Bosch also does a great job drying the dishes. Except for the few cups with concave surfaces in the bottom, everything comes out really dry and I don't have to have a dish towel to wipe things off like I used to with our old dishwasher.

As to what other reviews have said about the dishwasher being awkward to load, my daughter would agree. However, *I* really like the layout and the prongs are spaced perfectly for my type of dishes. There are some adjustments you can make with prongs that will lay flat. The silverware holder also has some "doors" that flip up that can hold your silverware apart for good cleaning or be used to hold in little lids or things like that - that would otherwise fly around the dishwasher. This dishwasher has no problem holding all the dishes for a family of 4 for dinner plus some from earlier in the day like breakfast/lunch.

I'm so glad I spent hours of online research and went with this dishwasher. We are extremely happy with it.

UPDATE: After having this dishwasher for nearly a year, it still is performing wonderfully, even with our hard water issues. The interior has NOT scaled up with minerals as our previous dishwashers have and the dishes still come out sparkling and clean every time. This is truly the best dishwasher we've ever had.