We have the less expensive of the two you mentioned, and are glad we didn't spend the money on the more expensive of the two. First, the less expensive one still beams a red light on the floor to show that the machine is on -- when I was younger, I would probably have gone for the "doodad", but now I have no interest in having the time left in the cycle beamed on the floor.

Second, ours is rated 44 dBA. You can barely hear that its running even if you're standing right next to it. We have an open plan (the kitchen, LR and DR are all one room) and we have run it while we had company, while the tv is on, etc., and it's virtually silent. The only time I have heard some water sloshing around is when I'm next to it and we've run a partial load.

I don't know anything about the water softener, or even how hard my water is, but I do know that with Finish Powerballs, every load comes out sparkling clean.

For 2db, I would personally opt to save the $300 difference in price. We installed an 800Plus Bosch 15 months ago and it is amazingly quiet and does a better job cleaning dishes *and* pots; far better than anything we've ever owned.

We agonized over the same decision but ended up choosing the SHV7PT53UC, which is sitting in our garage waiting to be installed. We paid $1178 for it and received a $100 rebate from Bosch and a $75 rebate from our electric company. So I justified going with the more expensive model by telling myself I didn't really pay over $1000 for a dishwasher - well, just $3 more + tax :-)

The primary reason I even considered this model is because supposedly, the 3rd rack is different - flexible, with the ability to move the sides up and down. I don't know if this will be useful or not but since the 3rd rack was the MAIN thing I cared about in a new D/W, I wanted to make sure it was as awesome as possible! I agree that a person probably can't tell the difference between 42 and 44dB and I don't know if I'll even use/need the water softener (although my salesperson was sure that I would and sold me salt), and the remaining time light vs. the info light was not a big deal either. So it really came down to the 3rd rack and the fact that it wasn't THAT much more - unlike the Thermador induction cooktop that I really wanted vs. the Bosch 500 Series that I bought :-)

Ruddy, you'll be happy to know that the Bosch 500 induction cooktop is awesome!

Thanks sjhockeyfan! I'm sure I'll be happy with it (also not installed yet) and I know that functionally, it's almost identical to the Thermador. My only reasons for wanting the Thermador were that I liked the frameless design and the layout of the controls a little better but I most definitely wasn't willing to pay $1200 more for it! I got a GREAT deal on the Bosch at Lowes back in September after someone on this forum posted info about a sale and then I used a 10% coupon. I can't wait to get my kitchen finished so I can use ALL of my new appliances!