Danby DDW1805W Designer Series Portable Dishwasher

I hate to do dishes. So much so that for years, I would host dinner parties and serve my guests on the fanciest plastic plates I could find... So much so that even after I got married, and my wife and I registered for a set of dishes we really liked, we still never used them because neither one of us wanted to get stuck washing the stack of dishes that results when you have 8-10 people over for a multiple course meal. We wanted to get a dishwasher, but we just didn't have the room to install one under the counter, or even the room to put a portable 24" machine in our kitchen.

Then one day we saw this little guy in the window of a local hardware store. When we returned home we found that we had exactly enough space for it in the kitchen... At that moment, the bug was planted firmly in our heads that this machine could be the answer to our dish-related problems.

At first, I was skeptical. I had never really heard of Danby before. When I did some research, I found out that the machine was made in China, and it was a pretty new product for the company, so there was very little information out there about it. I looked into 18" portables by more established brands like Frigidaire and Kenmore, but no salesman ever told me anything great about either, and they were also lacking in features that the Danby has, like 2 spray arms (lower -and- upper), and a stainless steel interior. Ultimately, I decided that for $350 including shipping, it was worth a shot on the Danby.

Great move! We are really happy with the machine. It doesn't take up too much space, it has all the features we need, does an excellent job cleaning the dishes, and then easily rolls back into its little space until we need it again.

Inside, the machine looks a lot like a scaled-down Bosch. This is not to say that it has Bosch's trademark silence when operating-- it doesn't-- but it is certainly not loud either. But it really looks like the Danby designers used a Bosch as their model... For one thing, as I mentioned, the interior is all stainless steel. Then, it has all sorts of thoughtful features, like each of the two racks in the back of the bottom section fold down for greater flexibility. The top rack is height-adjustable to account for taller plates (or taller glasses). There are small fold up shelves on the top rack that allow you to put things on top of short glasses, or that can be removed if you don't need them.

Perhaps most impressive is the efficiency of the interior. The tines (posts) are all very close together, allowing you to put in many many dishes closely packed. This very much makes up for the fact that the machine is only 2/3 the size of a normal dishwasher. Effectively, we have been able to put all of the dishes from a dinner party for 9 people in there-- including salad plates and desert plates. (Naturally, you can't get the same efficiencies from the upper rack, because glasses can only be packed as tightly as their circumference will allow, but its still pretty good up there-- the same is true for other large items like pots and pans which, unfortunately cannot be made more compact than they are).

We were nervous that, because the plates were loaded so tightly, they would not get clean-- especially because our plates have some depth to them (the inside of the plate dips away from the lip, forming a little "well" like bowls do, so the plates "nest" a bit when they are loaded.) This, however, has not been a problem at all, and everything comes out positively sparkling.

Operationally, the machine clips to a the faucet through a plastic adaptor, which both takes the water to the dishwasher from the upper hose, and returns the waste water to the sink through the lower hose. You send in hot water from the tap, and, on the more heavy duty cycles, the Danby heats it up further to a "sanitize" level. The one thing I will say is that a normal load takes a *long* time to do-- again, much like a Bosch. (Something like 90 minutes to 2 hours-- though we haven't really timed it). This probably has a lot to do with how well the dishes come out, and frankly, who cares-- I'm not washing 'em! The bottom rack is also a bit "light" feeling, but it still seems to be pretty good quality, and rolls in and out very smoothly when loaded up.

The Danby has the usual array of cycles-- Pots & Pans ("Intensive"), Normal, Light, Crystal, Rapid, Rinse, and Plate Warmer. The differences go to the length of time it spends washing, and how hot it makes the water during the cycle. We have only really used Normal.

The machine has a dispenser for rinse agent, and an LED on the front panel lets you know when it is time to put in more. The machine also has a dispenser for salt to "soften" the water to eliminate lime and minerals. This is billed as a big feature, and it sounds like it could be great, but I have never seen dishwasher salt for sale anywhere, and, frankly, we haven't really seen any problems without it. One thing the Danby is missing is a built-in timer, but since you plug the machine into a wall outlet, you can use a regular heavy duty appliance timer. The unit is also Energy Star compliant.

Aesthetically, the machine is fine-- not fancy looking, not ugly. I think it only comes in white. It is exactly counter height, so if you park it at the end of your countertop, it seamlessly gives you another 18 inches of space.

All in all, this seems to be a great product. We have only had it for a few months of medium-duty, but so far, it has absolutely lived up to and exceeded our expectations. We just hope that it proves to be durable, and for that, I suppose only time will tell. (Danby warrants the electrical for one year, the mechanicals for two years and the stainless steel tub for 10 years.) I can also say that the customer service people at Danby were very friendly and responsive. I called them before I bought the machine to ask some general questions, and they were generally pretty helpful, even though this is a new product for them. I then called them back after I bought it to ask about the possibility of installing the machine permanently-- something that the manual says you cannot do. The rep was much more nuanced than the manual in his take on this, explaining that the hoses are not meant for permanent installation, but that they could be replaced with standard dishwasher hoses with some, but not too much effort. (Note: Danby also sells a version of this machine that is meant for permanent installation if that is what you are looking for off the bat). So far, I have been very pleased with my interaction with the company.

Overall, great product. Good job Danby!