Haven't ever used a drawer, but you too can notice that dishdrawers have square racks as regular 24" DWs 18" diswashers are a compromise for very small kitchen. I mean : draw the biggest possible circle in a 24" x 24" square, then the biggest possible circle in a 18" x 24" rectangle. You can see that corners in the square are closer to the circle, while rectangle ones are not that close Spray arms draw a circle while spinning. So the spray action in rack corners is more effective in square rack designs (DD and 24" DW) than rectangular rack design (18" DW) If one is aware of this and loads a 18" DW consequently, there's no problem. But if you load tall and narrow juice glasses soiled of orange juice in the corners of a rectangular rack (18" DW), you can't pretend the will be cleaned as well as a dishdrawer or a regular 24" machine do Anyway a single drawer holds less items than the two racks of a 18" machine A regular 18" or 24" machine is more flexible than a double dishdrawer : in case of extralarge items you can raise the upper rack or even take it out (Bosch), with a dishdrawer ... you can handwash. I guess space is not your issue (a single drawer is as large as a 24" machine), rather you aren't supposed to have a daily full load in a regular 24" DW In this case be aware that latest european 24" DW have load size sensing devices and use 7-8 litres of water (round 2 gallons) for a *full= two racks* load. The *single* dishdrawer uses 1.95 gallons per load, so partially loaded 24" machines can even use less water than a *single* drawer. To cut a story short : if you have place go for a regular machine : it cleans better, you'll have plenty of place for those times you have guests at dinners and on the other side you can run partial loads without feeling "guilty"

I had an 18" dishwasher for about 16 years. My old kitchen didn't have a dishwasher and the only way I could have one fit was to get an 18" model. For 2 or 3 people who cook every night it was fine. I rarely put pots/pans in the dishwasher so I could go a couple of days between loads. When I remodeled my kitchen I put in a 24", but in retrospect I would have been fine with another 18". I don't remember the brands, but I think there are only a couple manufacturers that make the 18". Most are just re-branded. I agree with Sara that thin, flat plates are best. After my first 18" died after about 12 years, I had to get new dinnerware to fit properly in the new 18" dishwasher. You will pay more for the 18" than you would for the same dishwasher in a 24" size. If you can afford it, take a look at the Miele 18".

We had an 18" dishwasher (GE) and it did have a problem to look out for. It was totally reliable for the 10 years we had it, but the racks were too narrow to properly hold our fiesta ware plates. I would recommend that you make certain that you will be able to fit your dishes, etc. in it if you have anything but flat, standard plates.

The height of the Miele 18" DWs is no different than than their standard sized models. So they will accomodate the same sized plates, just less of them. Yes, an 11" plate will fit in the lower basket.