Danby is Dandy
Pros:
Superior cleaning, excellent quality (stainless steel interior), easy to use, relatively quiet, good customer service.
Cons:
Possible draining issues, complete cycle is very long.
The Bottom Line:
If you're renting and don't have a dw, tell your landlord about the Danby. For a modest investment, it makes your life easier, and the place much more rentable.
|
|
Overall Rating:
|
 |
|
Author's Review
My old apartment had a Magic Chef dishwasher built-in, and I got so very accustomed to it. I moved in August, and while I love my new place, having no dishwasher was rather depressing, what with how much I cook. Armed with reviews from epinions.com, I convinced my landlord to go half with me on the Danby. Good move. I found it for sale at my local appliance store, which turned out to be just as inexpensive as the best online deals if you count shipping, plus the online stores only deliver to the curb.
It holds only 2/3 as much as a full size, but the interior is well layed out so that it's possible to artfully load up a setting for 4 to 6, with room for small cookware. Much to my amazement, the cleaning quality is MUCH BETTER than the full size Magic Chef I used at my old place, and that appliance was also brand new when I moved in. Cleaning ability improved even more dramatically when I added a rinse agent (JetDry). I don't even bother with the optional water softener, since everything comes out so clean and spotless anyway.
I had one snafu early on: after one use, the drain pump wouldn't stop running and the dishwasher refused to begin a new wash cycle. After much frustrating troubleshooting, I figured out how to manually drain the pan (it's a little rubber stopper behind the plastic fascia along the bottom front). Voila, fixed. I realized that my kitchen floor isn't completely level, so I've learned to arrange the appliance in such a way so the rinse water drains fully, and it hasn't been a problem since.
I called the Danby customer service number and they were very helpful and professional, without the usual hassles I've experienced with other corporate customer support calls. They seem like a well-run company.
A minor quibble: the top rack lacks spindles to keep tall glasses from tipping or crashing into one another, so be careful with your crystal or your favorite collectible Snoopy glass. Which you'd never load into a dishwasher anyway, right? As others have stated, the complete cycle is quite long (well over an hour, almost two), but since it ties up the sink anyway I just start it up right before bed and let it go. Thankfully, the machine's pretty quiet; not the quietest, but much better than that Magic Chef. It's nice to wake up to sparkling clean dishes.
Overall, a tremendous value and a great purchase.
UPDATE, 5/1/05
There has one repair since my review: the temperature sensor was faulty, which would prevent the wash to advance to the next step. The water has to reach 160 degrees. After the part was replaced, and also by running the tap to very hot before attaching the nozzle, the wash time was reduced, to about 90 minutes.
