Recently someone posted in this forum or in the kitchen forum, about a 30"w DW. They were told that it's non-standard size would later make it difficult to replace so you would be held hostage to that company, and they might not even be making it in the future. /2ndly/ it used up a lot of valuable width under the counter. Also, bear in mind that the advantage of having TWO drawers is that one can wash while the other acts as a holding pen. Also, drawers open more efficiently than doors with hinges. A couple other remarks of similar ilk. Nobody had any 1st hand experience with it. The OP posted again to say they chose to eliminate it from consideration. I conclude from this that a single (24"w and 15"h) drawer fits well and holds enough to be practical for day to day use.

hth

F&P now has a DishDrawer Wide, which is 36" width, although currently available only as a single-drawer unit.

{{gwi:1494692}}

Does Smeg have much U.S. presence? I was also taken by the shape of this dishwasher, but (a) European consumer sites were not reassuring about reliability and (b) I wondered about how well they could get a machine serviced.

davidro1: Good point about the non-standard size (not only the width but the height are non-standard). This could be a real problem especially if the dishwasher is discontinued. I already have a 2-drawer Fisher Paykel, and it is a pretty pathetic dishwasher. Each drawer has one rotating arm on the bottom which is easily blocked if you're not careful when loading.

dadoes: Thanks for the info. I'm not necessarily looking for something bigger than a F&P Dish Drawer, just something other than F&P. The only thing I like about the Dish Drawers is the convenience; everything else about it is pretty bad in my opinion.

colin3: I did look up "reviews" of SMEG after I made the posting, and I saw that they were less than impressive. I think I will have to cross SMEG off the list. I may simply have to hold my nose and buy another F&P. I'm surprised no other company has come up with an alternative that is better made and does a better job of washing dishes.

Thanks for all the input!

rcinsf,

I've had a DD603 for slightly more than 7 years, and have not had any problems with it. The arm gets blocked only if an item protrudes down through the rack. In what specific ways do you find the DD to be pathetic? Dishwashers tend to be a uniquely personal appliance in the range of ways they're used. I know people who will toss in dishes with 1/4 pound of ground beef left on them, and others who literally wash each item before loading. I fall in the mid-range. I scrape, but I don't prerinse.

My DD can handle this (baked cherry cobbler) quite nicely. Would you have a problem getting such an item to wash satisfactorily?

It sounds like proper loading would make the FP drawers work better for you. You might want to try that before replacement.

My comments on the F&P Dish Drawers are specific to my personal experience with them. When we remodeled our kitchen in 2005 we installed two dishwashers, an F&P Double Dish Drawer, and a Miele. I think the Miele cost about $200-$300 more. Even before we started using them, I was struck by how well-made the Miele is (s/s interior and washing arms, solid and heavy) vs. the F&P (plastic tub, flimsy plastic washing arm). With the F&P, you have to be careful about making sure nothing dips below the basket (e.g. a pot handle, or a cooking utensil), otherwise you'll have to re-run the dishwasher. Items on the fold-down shelves better be clean on the top side otherwise they may not get clean (the water may never get up there). With the Miele, I never have to think about making sure everything will get exposed to the one dishwashing arm at the bottom. I just load it up, and everything comes out squeaky clean. Plus, the F&P is much noisier than the Miele.

So my comments are based my personal experience with the F&P and Miele, which may not be a fair comparison. But certainly from a performance, quality of construction, and reliability issue, the F&P doesn't come close.