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Kenwood KDWTTB10
by broxi3781
I really hesitated to write this review, after all I have only had this for a couple of weeks now, so I certainly can not vouch for it's reliability. However, this is new out, and I couldn't find any reviews on it myself before buying, so I have decided to go ahead and review this, with the promise I will update in regard to ... reliability, and I have done so with other appliance reviews here already.
1st off, we have had rotten luck with dishwashers. There is no way I can fit in a full sized dishwasher, or even a slimline. The only type of dishwasher we could use is the small tabletop version. We were given our first dishwasher after my husband fixed a friends roof for him. It was several years old when we got and still gave us a few more years of trusty service before failing and being replaced with a Kenwood KDW4TTSL. I was foolish enough not so save the receipt and within 9 months this had failed, flooding the house in the process. So we bought the Bush DW5F which is broke down twice ( and again flooding the house) during the warranty period and we have been promised a refund for. The whole experience has very much soured me on Argos though. Both broken machines appeared identical inside, both had the same fault, the float mechanism failed, so the machine continued filling, once it reaches a certain point it just floods out onto the floors. The repair man explained this was a very very common fault with these machines, and could be expected to fail again no matter how many times you fix it. He also told me, regardless of brand, this style of dishwashers were all the same inside.
So this time we spent a bit more, and bought this for £200 from Curry's. This is a new model , and I do believe it is a big improvement over the older models.
Capacity : This has much more interior space then most tabletop dishwashers. Most compact dishwashers will list a capacity of 4 place settings. This dishwasher has a capacity of 6 place settings. Not being completely sure what a place setting consists of, I looked it up. According to boots dishwasher guide, a place setting consist of "consists of a side plate, a large plate, a cup, a saucer and cutlery". But I don't think you really care what will fit in the dishwasher, you are more likely to care, what will wash in the dishwasher, as if you place the plates too closely, they will not come out clean. this dishwasher would in fact wash 6 place settings as defined by boots, where my old dishwasher would not, but more importantly, it will wash what we really use, 4 large plates, 4 tumblers, 4 tea cups, four saucers,and still have room for the odd pan or a couple of cereal bowls stacked on top, plus cutlery of course.
Size: Actual size is , H 17" , W 21.5", D 20" . This very close to the actual size of my old dishwashers H 18.5", W 22.5" D 19". The main difference is the controls are built into the door, saving the separate control panel to the side.
Cycles: My older machine had a 50 minute rapid wash, although it advertised it's shortest cycle at 12 minutes. This was kind of a joke, as the 12 minute cycle was for fruit, not dishes.
Although I do not usually give lists, I do think knowing the details on this would be very important to a potential consumer so here it is with running time, energy usage, water usage (l + litres),and my comments on effectiveness
Intensive: 145 minutes,. 94 kwh, 11 l, - cleans and dries almost anything including horribly burned pans.
Normal: 120 minutes, .7kwh, 8.4 l, - cleans and dries everything spotlessly, except very burned on pans.
Eco: 170 minutes, .63kwh, 8.4 l, cleans spotlessly except burned on pans, dries pretty well.
Glass:75 minutes, .48 kwh, 6.8 l - barring pots and pans, this has washed everything up without problems
and dried as well.
Rapid: 30 minutes, .3 kwh 6 l - Poor drying performance, fails on some really stained up tea cups, not very useful for pots and pans, but this is my most used cycle. I do always scrape and rinse dishes before putting them in and this really does a very good job on most of my everyday dishes, plus it is more economical to run.
Soak; 14 minutes, .01 kwh, 2.1 l - this is the one cycle I have not tried as this is for very heavily soiled dishes, but I do not like to put too much food into the dishwasher.
Anti flood device:
This was a big selling point to me, this device will be found on most larger dishwashers, but not many compacts. this simply means should this begin to leak in any way, the water supply is immediately shut off. No more flooded floors.
Installation: These uses a cold water only feed, but you will need access to water feed and drain pipe obviously. This will also mean drilling through the counter top to run these hose through. As we were replacing another dishwasher, we just set it up and plugged it in. The easiest way to install this would be on a counter above a washing machine where you can just tee off from existing plumbing. A drain hose and water supply hose are included, but you will need to buy any necessary tees or junctions ( sorry i am not very technical).
Extras: This also has a funny little compartment built into the door. You put your detergent into it and close the compartment. When the machine has reached the correct stage of the wash cycle it pops open dropping your detergent in.
So far I love this machine. I love the extra washing capacity while still freeing up just a bit more of my counter top. The anti flood device gives me much more security and the performance has been brilliant. I also think it's sleek black design is much more stylish then my old machine, and it wipes clean easily as well.
I like the handy push button controls, with pictures and running time, and the counter showing how much time is left. I love being able to get my dishes washed in only 30 minutes if I am in a rush,and I love knowing I am saving both water and energy compared to hand washing. It is quieter then the old machine as well, although the old machine wasn't too bad either. This has a soft sound that would not interfere with quiet conversation. I only hope this will prove more reliable then our previous 2 models and will update accordingly. All the same I bought Curry's Whatever Happens this time.
The only disadvantage to this to date is the salt compartment is on the bottom of the machine rather than the side and a bit awkward to fill.
UPDATE:
We have had this item replaced. It was covered both by warranty and by Curry's whatever happens. after over a month of waiting, Curry's replaced the whole unit but the problem was relatively minor. The door seal kept coming undone and catching the spinner at the bottom which sprays the water ( sorry for non technical terms). At any rate you could make this work by continually shoving the seal back in place, but it was probably hard on the motor to keep getting stuck, a waste of money to have to rewash over and over whenever the thing came undone, and over all a complete headache.
I can't say this would put me off buying the model. I could easily have chosen another model as the replacement and had money back as well. I still think this is the best of the table top dishwasher available, having gone through quite a few, and the fault itself was minor. Still I believe any repair or fault is highly relevant to an appliance review and will always update my reviews accordingly.
I would prefer to lower my rating to 4.5 stars now but as I can't give 1/2 stars, I will still keep this at 5. Aside from the one fault, this machine still does a brilliant job.
I would also not that the dishwasher tabs can be broken in half for this machine with no loss in cleaning power.
On the plus side - at least there was no flooding with this model when we had problems !
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Beko DWD4310
by Pontyender
I expected great things of the BEKO DWD4310W dishwasher; maybe too much as we already had two other high performing BEKO appliances in our kitchen.
They always say that first impressions count for a lot. While preparing for its arrival, I disturbed a pipe and its elbow joint in a hard-to-get-to corner of the kitchen and ... flooded it. Hardly the dishwasher's fault, but it didn't start the relationship on a good footing.
Where it did disappoint was finding that the salt and rinse aid indicators spoken of, were not the front panel LEDs of its predecessor a Whirlpool, but so called 'visual indicators' inside the appliance. This may sound a trivial complaint, but a dishwasher's ability to do its job well depends on the user putting the right thing in it at the right time.
According to the manual, 'a float drops and is no longer visible' near the cap of the water softener when it needs replenishing. After nine months of sticking my head in the dishwasher and squinting until my eyes pop, I'm still darned if I can spot this. The filling of the salt container has therefore been guess work and I suspect we haven't been getting it right, as the glasses did start to go cloudy at one stage.
A dishwasher's ability to do its job well also depends on the user cleaning its filters at the right time. I'll hold my hands up here. Sometimes we have used the occasional food deposits left on items as an indicator that this simple task needed doing.
That's the trouble with dishwashers. A user can get away with some inertia with a washing machine, without there being such a noticeable effect on the washing.
In some respects BEKO have got the design right and in others they haven't.
With the top basket set at its highest position, there is plenty of clearance below the top spray arm for larger plates in the bottom basket, something that wasn't the case with our last dishwasher. However larger glasses do tend to fall over in the top basket due to the sharp angle of the tilt, a common problem with all the appliances we have had.
On the front panel, the on/off button doesn't release as it should when turning off, seeming to stick and taking several attempts to respond. However there are useful progress indicators, a green LED signifying that the dishwasher is still operating and a red LED to show that the cycle has ended.
In caring hands, there is no doubt that this dishwasher washes and dries well, deserving its AAA rating. It's just a shame that the manufacturer hasn't built in some user friendly care and maintenance prompts to make this easier to achieve.
* I have also written this review on Ciao
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