We bought the KA KUDS30IVSS in October 2009. It does not have the venting issue that another KA DW line did. The store we purchased from carried Miele and KA as their 'top' lines. I thought the Miele had a wonderful build quality, but my dishes and cookware simply did not fit. I have a lot of oversized cookware that will literally take up half a rack with one piece. Some of it is tall and was a really difficult fit. The KA had a much more flexible arrangement, and in that respect has worked out very well for us. When the phosphates were removed from detergents in Jan 2011, I had some cleaning issues that went away when I switched to Finish, as recommended on this forum. The KA DW is definitely a little noisier now than it was before. 'Noise' is always subjective, but we have an open plan in a small house, and both upstairs (where the DW resides) and downstairs (it is above our master bath) it can now be noticed when the DW is running, whereas before it was almost unnoticeable. We had recurring issues with the soap dispenser unit which was documented here in other threads, so I won't repeat myself. Poor repairman competence was a major contributing factor to a nine-month saga of why we are on our fourth dispenser unit. I was told by the original installer that these DWs have an issue with the pump unit failing after about three years. He congratulated us on getting the extended warranty and certainly it was of great use during the dispenser problem. Now that Miele has finally recognized they need a more flexible loading arrangement, when this KA fails - not if it will fail, but WHEN - we can replace it with a Miele. The KA is good, but it is nowhere near the build quality of Miele. From the plastic hinges to the rickety sprayer arms, KA just can't compare.

My Miele makes no noise draining. This is because someone on the kitchen forum or on this forum brought up in 2007 that it was much quieter to have the dishwasher drain hose go to a standpipe than to the garbage disposal. Some care in orientation of the hose will put the water onto the standpipe wall where it can drain down quietly to the standpipe trap. It may help that my standpipe has a "kink" in it above the trap that further keeps the water on the standpipe wall. Generally, given typical plumbing layouts, the standpipe has to reach almost up to the counter in order to meet the required distance above the trap weir. (I vaguely recall 18 inches.)

This is great feedback. Thanks everyone. Looks like I should be able to get two Miele's for around $2K. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles, especially with such a high quality machine - I assume they are excellent in cleaning, which is the main job we all need a DW to do. I do need panel-ready DWs. Does anyone know if the Classics are available in panel-ready?

"Our local store rec'd the Electrolux Q50 series. Though reviewed.com loves this machine I'm having a difficult time finding owner feedback. I was told this was Italian time-tested technology, just now brought to the US. And the orbit clean has just come out of patent, but is also not "new". Any leads on further information?" The Frigidaire FPID/FGID and Electrolux EI24ID/EW24ID (including the 50QS) are brand new and seem to be a redesign from the ground up. Electrolux did not have a great reputation for dishwashers in the past; owners complained of poor washability and reliability. However, it's very possible this new line is great and exactly what they needed. You certainly won't find any user reviews at this point, though. If you buy one, let us know what you think! The only real "proven" dishwashers on the market right now are Maytag and the Euro manufacturers Bosch, Miele, and Asko. Although Maytag is a Whirlpool brand, they still use the previous generation Point Voyager tall tub wash system that works well. Whirlpool has transitioned the rest of their brands including KA to the "Global Wash System" which supposedly is quieter and uses less water but is unproven. GE and Electrolux/Frigidaire just introduced complete redesigns, presumably because their previous offerings weren't so great. Those are also unproven.