Miele. It is super quiet, dries well, and, by the way, cleans extraordinarily well. We have had KA, JennAir/Maytag, and Whirlpool--there's NO comparison. We now have two Miele Excellas, and our kitchen is completely open to our family room--all we hear is an occasional gurgle, which we probably wouldn't hear if we inserted the sink stopper. We routinely put a clip or hang a dishtowel on the pull of the running DW so we know not to open it while running--it's that quiet.

The only wet items I've experienced is occasionally a plastic item or the concave bottom of a coffee mug. I just set those few items on a dishtowel. It's so worth it not to have to worry about where items go in the DW -- since there isn't an exposed heating element, things cannot melt.

If I remember correctly, the only difference between Optima & Excella is the number of cycles. Optima is a great choice.

It's quiet. It uses condensation (passive) drying, just like a Bosch. Tupperware comes out wet, just like a Bosch.

It's infinitely better than any DW I know of with a heating element for drying, but if that is one of the only two criteria for selection, then I guess you might sacrifice all of the other advantages for one that just dries well.

None are quieter or clean better, based on our comparison of our Excellas vs our old Bosch units, which were already pretty quiet and cleaned well.

It does NOT use passive drying "just like a Bosch." The bottom-of-the-line Miele dry like Bosch, but the top 4/5 of Miele dishwashers use a fan to assist the temperature differential.

I could be wrong about the technical specs of Bosch's entire line. I did my dw research six months ago. Stuff could have changed.

I have no idea regarding the efficacy of Miele's "clean air technology" (which would include the Optima) versus Bosch or Miele's Advanta (entry-level) passive drying, since we're buying the Advanta and I don't know anyone who has a higher-end Miele to compare.

The Miele people we've talked to say that our plastic WILL BE wet with the Advanta. (We don't care.) They say plastic MIGHT be damp with the higher models.

And then there is the whole JetDry/rinse agent argument to add to the mix. (It isn't our thing because I don't want the added chemicals, but other people swear by it for European dw.)

But it isn't the same as Bosch. Whatever decision you make, accurate info is always good.

My mom got a KA because perfect drying was that high a priority for her. She's happy. Consumer Reports (I know, I know) says most dishwashers do a pretty good job, so choose the features - beyond cleaning - that matter to you. (In our last rental we had a brand new Admiral dw - cheap as it gets, but NEW. We scrape, but never rinse. It never failed to produce a full load of perfectly clean dishes, very dry. We were there three years and it didn't break down or have any issues before we left. Just saying this to point out that even cheapo dishwashers do wash the dishes, so it is the OTHER features that should drive this one, maybe. For us, longevity was the big consideration, so Miele. But if we were not in an apartment with our dishwasher ten inches from our neighbor's dining-room-with-expensive-mahogany-flooring, maybe we'd just buy five Admiral's for less than the price of one Miele, and take the hit when it leaked.)

And in my opinion, the "water savings" is over-hyped. The Admiral used about 7 gallons of water. I'm not sure I care that much about saving two gallons (or whatever it is for the more efficient Miele) a load, six gallons a week. Given that my shower head puts out three gallons a minute, that means that me being just 15 seconds slower in the shower every day will completely negate the dishwasher savings. Too slim to notice, for me. YMMV.

Now, doing something nice for the planet is a whole different argument.

I have had a Miele "Diamante" for three years now and LOVE it!! I guess that's the "middle of the line" Miele but to me it's the best I've ever had. My sister -in law has had the "bottom of the line" for 8 years with 0 service calls.
The plastic does come out wet and there are a few "puddles" here and there if something has a dipped top, unless I crack the door right after the drying cycle goes off and leave it for a while. That's what the installer told me to do. Leaving it closed causes condensation. I guess there's some kind of new "plastic" dishwaser additive that is supposed to help with that....
BEWARE: if you don't want to be replacing your dishwasher in 5 years don't go American. My last one lasted 4 years. Better to spend more now and save money and headache. Even the bottom of the line Miele is better than the top of the line Whirlpool/etc. in my humble opinion. Good luck!!

Don't know about the Optima, but we bought a Miele 8 years ago. It still cleans as well as the day it was installed. We usually run it in the evening, then open the door partway (resting on the pulled out utensil rack after the drying cycle is over) and let the plastics air dry overnight. If we forget to open it, there are some wet plastics when it's emptied in the morning.

Small price to pay IMHO.

Another Miele fan here! I love how quietly it performs..cutlery comes out sparkling clean....it dries everything EXCEPT sometimes, there is water on the lids of my plastic containers. No biggie! It's not the fault of the DW!

Love our Optima!

stw is technically correct, although it is still also correct to call the Miele "Clean Air" system a condensation system, as it does not use a heating element to dry. From the website:

Most Miele dishwashers employ an advanced drying system that draws room temperature air through a port at the bottom of the appliance. This air is disbursed through special channels around the exterior dishwasher cavity and allows the interior water particles to condense (my emphasis) against the walls of the dishwasher. During this process no external air is ever introduced inside of the dishwasher. This provides the most effective drying possible.

I can speak from experience, as we have two Excellas now and have owned three mid to high end Bosch DW's over the years. Fan or not, the tops of the tupperware are still wet. I don't care. Others might.

Thanks to you all for responding and the details!

I guess I expect the plastics to not dry completely, but, I don't want to have to open the DW to prevent any condensation on the rest of the dishes. Is that what would happen if I didn't open it?

I am in the habit of turning on the DW at night before bed and sometimes don't empty it until mid afternoon the next day. I would like it quiet for when we entertain and need to run a load.

I am leaning towards the Miele Optima, actually have been quite excited about getting one, with all the raves I read here. The cutlery tray sounds great!

We never open the door of our Miele Excellas (except to unload) & everything is usually always dry. No condensation.

Ditto that with our Excellas

My non-plastic dishes are always dry when they come our of my Optima. It doesn't matter if they've stayed in overnight or just the 2-hour Normal cycle.

If memory serves, I seem to remember that Miele's Next Big Thing is a dishwasher that opens its own door on its own (at end of cycle) to let condensation out, then closes again after some amount of time, and repeating this in some cycle.

Maybe this is the magic bullet for you?

(And I never meant to imply that Miele wasn't fundamentally still condensation drying. I just meant to emphasize that it wasn't *exactly* the same as Bosch, which was the wording up thread.)