Well, I will answer what I can. In order:

1. Water/power saving tech, basically they have turbidity sensors that can gauge the clarity of the wash/rinse water and adjust cycle times and water usage according to the actual needs of the load of dishes. Quieter machines/better insulation and enclosure design has quieted the more expensive models down a lot. Built-in water softeners are found on a few high-end models. Also, quite a few of them now have fully concealed controls and shine little laser spots down on the floor to let you know they are running. Other more recent innovations are highly configurable racks, rail heights and special racks for cutlery in the top of the machines. Soon to be arriving innovations will be even more configurable racks and LED lit interiors.

2.Styles are American and Euro with some Korean models coming into the market that seem to be aiming for a piece of the Euro action. These lines do blur, however. Bosch, for instance, now makes most of their dishwashers here (at least the ones they sell here.) Drawers are sold under a few different brands but I think they are mostly made by Fisher Paykel. Some folks love them, but they also have a pretty bad reputation for reliability issues. Euro brands include Asko, Miele, Bosch, Smeg, Blomberg.

The Americans are playing catchup supposedly and several of the newer upline models are reputed to be much quieter than their old rackety progeny.

3. Unknown - somebody else can answer that one. I settled on Cascade action pacs when they first came out and they are still working fine for me.

4. I would think you would have better luck in extremely hard water situations with a machine that included a built-in water softener, but I get along fine with without one.

5. For a heavily soiled, full load, Consumer Reports reports the time it took to complete the wash cycle. Times ranged from 110 minutes to 150 minutes. The vast majority of the machines clustered around the 2 hour mark.

6. Miele Bosch Asko Kitchenaid (high end) are all pretty quiet. The more you pay the quieter they get as a rule.

7. We just knock the big chunks off, but if you want to be putting 2 pounds of Spaghetti-Os in there just for laughs, I would get an american machine with the garbage grinder. But keep in mind, if you do that you may still end up with food trapped in the wash arms blocking the ports. Generally, it isn't hard to knock the big chunks off into the garbage disposal before putting the item in the dishwasher, but that's just me.

8.Yes, they can probably all handle them if they have a delicate crystal setting, which would be lower temp and less time.

9. According to what I have read, they will use less water than an "inefficient" hand wash, but that a person who knows how to conserve water can still beat them. I could never get the job done using less water than our Bosch, though.

10. Some dishwashers carry the NSF logo, which certifies that they can sanitize dishes up to the NSF's lofty standards, whatever those happen to be. The pots and pans setting on our Bosch meets the NSF standard, which has most to do with the temp and the length of time it is held. The dishes come out sparking, in any case, clean enough for me.

11. I will let others go on this one. If I were going to go buy a dishwasher today I would wait until the new Miele G5000 series machines are released here in the USA and then I would get one. Actually, that is what I am planning on.

Thank you very much.

I'm still confused about what the new dishwashers like to be fed. Rinse aid, phosphate-free detergent, something for hard water, STP - ? It seems pretty complicated. We have soft water in PDX so I may be spoiled. Can you get all of the above in a single powder or liquid?

The cycle times are a lot longer than I expected. A dinner party here is two dishwasher loads. With a 1 hour cycle, I could run the first load and start the second just before going to bed. A 2 hour cycle would have me handwashing for an extra hour.

You might be able to get away with an hour or a little over. The times I quoted were for heavily soiled dishes and a full load. Normally, dinner party stuff is a lot of glassware and plates, which you could conceivably knock out on a "quick" cycle, empty, and then start the panscrubber for the late night run. If you get one of the Euro models then you won't have to worry about the blasted thing keeping you up as they are very quiet.

As far as all the rigamarole about this or that detergent, this or that water softener, rinse aid, blah de blah blah blah, all I can tell you is this: I haven't put any rinse aid into my Bosch, which supposedly requires it, for probably 5 years. Everything comes out fine except for plastic and nonstick sometimes doesn't dry. I don't care one bit, I shake them off and put them away a little damp or grab a towel and knock out the big drops. I live in the desert and everything is dry in no time anyway. Cascade action pacs with Dawn are what I use, and they work great as is, no other stuff is required. And my dishwasher really gets stuff clean, too. My glassware sparkles and the fiestaware plates and bowls are still shiny as new. Back when we had the old POS builder's model dishwasher that came with the house, we used to get a lot of etching (caused, I now know, by too much powdered detergent) but we don't see that anymore, either.

When you go hunting, check out some of the videos on the new Miele G5000 dishwashers on youtube. Pure dishwasher porn there. Appliance geeks get world-class chubbies viewing them.

Most of the machines have "short" cycles which may help your occasional volume problem. If you're talking about stuff that's not been sitting and dried on, I'll bet you'll be fine. Other machines have "glassware" cycles that are also short. Perhaps batching your dinner-party load into lightly-soiled for the first quick service, then more heavily-soiled and full-cycle for the second load would solve your problem. Could be just an organizational issue that way.

When shopping check about those short cycles and verify that they boost heat to 120. Less probably OK for pure glassware but no serious cleaning is going to happen without decently-hot water. Without a heat-boost, my machine washes at about 105....which isn't what you want. Wash water should be too hot to put your hand in. Generally, those heat sensors are set for 120 for "normal" wash and 140 for "hot" wash. "Sani-rinse" will hit 155-160.

With soft or barely-hard water, beware of the pre-paks. For example a full load with my machine takes 1tsp in the prewash plus 2tsp in the main-wash. (Cascade Complete w/o phosphate) Any of the pre-paks would be a gross over-dose with my conditions....and perhaps with yours. A little experimentation would answer the question. Be aware that over-dosing will etch your dishes over time.

johnliu, You ask so many detailed questions that, instead of attempting to answer them in detail, I'll cut to the bottom line and go all prescriptive on you. The Word -- you will see it elsewhere as well as here -- is that there are really only two kinds of dishwashers: (1) Miele, and (2) all others. Not totally credulous, we accepted the Word provisionally, bought a Miele, and found out that the Word is true.

There are many reasons why no one who ever has had a Miele dishwasher would ever voluntarily have any other kind, but one of the least mentioned is build quality. Mieles are significantly heavier than the competition because they use more stainless steel in places where other manufacturers use plastic, and because Miele uses a heavier gauge of stainless steel than the competition. All dishwashers need to be leveled; with most, you make a good guess before sliding the dishwasher under the counter; with the Mieles, there are worm screws on the front of the machine that allow you to adjust the rear feet AFTER the dishwasher is under the counter. And then there is the top flatware rack, which is highly addictive.

We, too, live in Portland, Oregon, with its extremely soft water. After issues with glassware etching when we used ANY "supermarket" dishwasher powder in our previous dishwasher, we switched to Ecover (powder, not tablets) even before we bought the Miele. The dishes get just as clean, and the etching problem simply disappeared. Mieles, which use a very small quantity of water per load, also require rinse aids to work properly; we use Cascade Crystal Clear, and it works just fine.

From the manual of my new Whirlpool GU2300....a mid-range machine that costs about $600.00. This machine has six cycles plus four options. The "maximum" time includes any/all options selected.

"Normal" cycle time is minimum 1:04; maximum 3:30

"Glass express" cycle for pre-rinsed glasses or dish-loads is 58 minutes. No min/max time.

Shortest time for any wash cycle is 58 minutes. Longest time for any wash cycle is 3:30.

The min/max thing has to do with turbidity sensors that supposedly measure the dirty-ness of the load and adjust the cleaning time accordingly. Such sensors are are built into many machines and pretty much all work the same.

I'm writing this because I suspect most currently available machines are similar.....but don't actually know. Anyway, here's one example.

Drawers vs Tubs
Condenser Drying vs Heated
Disposer vs None
3 racks vs 2 plus basket
Special cycles (i.e. delay, china crystal, pasta/cheese) vs basic
Panel vs No panel
Integrated vs Front Controls
Vertical vs horizontal tub/loading (24"-36" width)
Metal vs plastic tubs
Euro vs US style and manufacture
Handle style choices

Brands & cost aside for the moment, those are many of the big picture issues in terms of what's on the market.

Most are fairly quiet these days.
Some require what I'll call "tweaked" detergent
Water conditions can play a role in performance

Depending on choices between the bigger features then you get down to whether a water softener is needed or which detergent works best with the water you have.

Looks like ya got nuff help with the DW's soooooo
I will help with "Other Matters"

(1) Knock off the "pirouettes"
(2) Knock off talk about Closets!

ROFLMAO

No name

My DishDrawer estimates 38 mins for the Fast Eco cycle -- wash @ 105°F, rinse, final rinse @ 105°F.

Fast cycle without the Eco option is 56 mins -- prerinse, wash @ 115°F, rinse, final rinse @ 115°F.

My unit is 7 years old. F&P occasionally changes the cycle sequence and target temps so can't say these parameters apply precisely to current models.

Yo Dadoes...you know I love you, but......IMHO, 105 is ridiculous for any serious purpose other than hand-washable laundry or taking a bath. If you're using product-paks you'll be picking up wrappers from the drain/filter even with soft water.

I'll yield at 115 but that's just at the edge.

Cast me not away respected one. But that's my take.

Addendum to my (too long) post above: You asked, "8. Delicate china and crystal? Are there dishwashers that can safely wash those?"

We wash fine crystal wine glasses in our Miele -- using Ecover powder and Cascade Crystal Clear rinse aid -- almost every day, and the glasses come out sparkling clean and with no etching even in Portland's soft water. Our Miele (in common with some other dishwashers) has a system that keeps stemware from tipping over.

Another factor you didn't ask about, John, is the rack configuration. Depth and tine spacing in the racks can vary a lot. The tines in my previous Miele were so close together that I had to space my heavy stoneware plates in every-other slot. The Bosch I looked at wouldn't hold my big mixing bowls. So it becomes necessary to trot a box of your favorite dishes and pots to the appliance store to make sure your DW choice will hold your possessions.