Cabinet sizes start at around 0.5 cubic feet and end near 1.3 cubic feet. Many models have built-in sensors that prevent food from overcooking by monitoring moisture levels. Some top-end models add convection heat so foods can be browned without moving to a conventional oven before serving. Dishwashers also continue to improve, with the emphasis on quiet operation, energy and water conservation, and more versatile loading features, plus some electronic wizardry on the high side. As with microwave ovens, prices have held surprisingly steady for years.
Some models offer as many as six cycles.
And finally, if your kitchen opens onto a family room, look for quiet operation, which is accomplished with, among other features, better insulation and cushioned mounting brackets. Electronic touch-pad controls are attractive, reliable, convenient, and easy to clean around, but they have no real effect on performance. They also cost more than rotary dials and push buttons. Refrigerators of old should be the standard of reliability against which all other products are measured. They may not be particularly convenient or efficient, but they keep doing what they were made to do, year in and year out, often without the slightest hint of regular maintenance.