You'd probably be fine with either but there are some differences - the Bosch doesn't have heated dry whereas the KA does - you will have to use rinse aid in the Bosch although risne aid is useful in the KA as well. The interior of KAs is a bit bigger than the Bosch. The KA has a grinder although that's not really a big deal. I can't speak to the cutlery tray but people with Miele DWs love them.

What KA reliability issue are you referring to? I've had a KA DW, fridge, and compactor for 5 years now and no problems at all.

I have a 500 series Bosch - a 2 or 3 year old one by now. I really like it but I cannot give you an intelligent dissection of the two only that I really like my Bosch unit.

I've had "other" dishwashers in the past in rental apartments I've lived in until I bought our house; I've not really kept track of their brands just that they were various domestic brands. I will say that nothing has washed as brilliantly clean as this Bosch dishwasher. It used to be that I'd have to put something in past DWs especially if quite grimy, and then rewash said item coz *stuff* remained on it but I'd think it was a good deal because the DW did some of the work and I only did the hard graft after the messy bit. Now, however, with the Bosch, this washes so well that I put things in that I decide look too much effort and would take too much scrubbing for me to want to wash.

So, while I don't think that I can compare to the KA and your KA in particular, I will say that my mid/500series Bosch is definitely a better performer than any of the set of amorphous domestics/others that I've had in the past.

But I will also say that again in my experience, this would not be one of your virtually silent machines. It is very quiet, but it is not silent or nearly silent. I can definitely hear this guy quietly whump-whump-whumping particularly in the first 15 or so minutes of its wash. It is soft, but it is there - perhaps about the same intensity as the fridge fan or compressor or whatever it is that whumps or whirrs in there.

Another happy mid line Bosch owner. (I am planning to buy another for a new kit) All I cared about in a DW is: quietly does an excellant job of cleaning the dishes, pots pans etc & is energy effiecient. Mine is/does both and yes the Bosch is smaller capacity than the any KA I looked at. If a disposal and heated dry are important to you a Bosch would not be the choice. It is also important to follow directions carefully on a Bosch instillation, i.e. high loop.

Thanks for your replies. I think I would like the space in the Kitchenaid, but I don't know how I would like the 3rd rack. Anybody with a 3rd culinary tools rack who can comment? I keep thinking that there must be something about the KA that makes it retail for $1100 vs the Bosch at $750--the rack or the size perhaps?
Weissman--there have been a number of threads on GW about poor customer service from Kitchenaid, and a lot of problems with their wall oven in particular, and that is what makes me nervous about buying one. It seems as if people have fewer problems with the KA dishwashers than some of their other appliances.

houscrzy - yes the KA ovens do seem to have issues - even possibly design flaws - but the DWs and fridges, at least in my experience, are very reliable. As far as service goes, the issues seem to be with A&E one of the service companies that KA uses - but they're not the only service company that handles KA warranty issues and you're free to choose someone else. On the phone, I've always found KA service to be very helpful and friendly.

Weissman--thanks, that is reassuring. I'm leaning toward the KA--I'm thinking that the 3rd rack and a little more size could be pretty useful for us.

I have a KA S series with the culinary rack and use it everyday mostly for larger, flatter utensils like spatulas, knives, spoons etc. It works well for container lids too. I was going to get the Bosch but I didn't care for the substantially smaller interior. I did check them both out.

Along with that, I'd read about the complaints here (smell, drying issues) and decided I wasn't even gonna go there. Our old KA was 14 years old with not one problem, and was still working fine when we replaced it. So, I stuck to a brand I was familar with. So far, no problems.

Ours is quiet but the T series should be even quieter.

My salewswoman told me that the T series is the equivalent of the old S series, so the noise levels should be about the same.

I just bought a KA model exclusive to The Great Indoors, equivalent to the old P series. It does a great job cleaning and drying, but it is going back to the store. This puppy is much louder than I expected! I will be looking at other KA models due to concerns about drying and space.

Nicole

I have a KitchenAid T-series with the cutlery tray. Like Debi, I use it for spatulas, plastic container lids, etc. It works wonderfully. The height for the middle shelf is adjustable on the model I have which is a feature I really like. The machine is virtually silent. The first time I used it I had my hand on the front just to make sure it was actually running (of course, my old DW sounded like I was making a milkshake so probably anything would have been better).

When I was deciding between an Asko and the KitchenAid, I had 2 salespeople from different places both commented that they had purchased the KitchenAid for their homes. Neither was trying to strong arm me -- especially since I wasn't buying appliances from one of them. It was an unsolicited endorsement. I have been very happy with the model.

Thanks everybody--you've made me feel a lot more confident about this decision. Now maybe I will stop obsessing (well, about this, anyway--on to the next obsession!)