I am well pleased with my Bosch except the tub is so low to the floor and it's not fun with osteoporosis to load and unload. Otherwise, it performs fine and is extremely quiet. You must disengage the finishing beeper or wake up in the night to the sound of it. It is much quieter than the Kenmore or Whirlpools that I had previously. Quiet is important to me.

I had the technician place the rubber gasket for me. I will run some more test trials and see what is going on (I cleaned it already with 12 cycles of affresh and final maintenance cycle seemed pretty clear). For detergent am using ecos right now and only filling to what they suggest for HE load. Will try without the super washing soda. With light or no clothing in there no noise while on high spin cycle. With half load of light cotton clothing it was very loud on high spin. Not sure if everything is seated properly?!

Bosch Ascenta, like virtually all dishwashers made today, has a heating element. However, European dishwashers like the Ascenta work completely differently from American dishwashers when it comes to heating water and drying. In the American dishwashers you're used to, the element is exposed at the bottom of the tub. It heats the water during wash and rinse, and heats the air during the dry cycle to "bake" the moisture out of the dishes. European dishwashers also have an element, but it is concealed. This design is much more effective and efficient at heating the water while washing and rinsing. Also, it allows you to put plastics in the bottom rack without having to worry about them being melted by the heating element. However, it cannot heat the air for drying. Instead European dishwashers use a method called condensation drying. The final rinse is heated to a very hot temperature using the concealed element, hotter than most American dishwashers. After the dishwasher drains, this water quickly evaporates off the dishes and condenses on the walls of the stainless steel tub. Then the droplets roll down the sides of the tub and go down the drain. The advantage to condensation drying is that it is much more energy efficient. The disadvantage is that it doesn't work as well with plastics, since they won't get as hot and the water won't evaporate off them as much. It's important to use rinse aid with these dishwashers. This will lower the surface tension of the water, and let it spread into thin sheets that run off easier.

I will also chime in with a recommendation for Bosch. I think especially if you pre-rinse and don't mind a little towel drying you'd be satisfied with the shorter cycles. I run mine at night or when I leave for work so I don't care if it takes 2:09 to complete the auto cycle. I have at times used the short cycle if I've had a party or big dinner and have more than one load. With a quick rinse and running immediately I've been completely satisfied with the short cycle (can't remember how long it is). I maybe touched up the drying with a dish towel but no big deal.