You probably know, at least by now, that the 500 series also has the fast preheat. I have been searching and searching through my emails and old forum posts, because I KNOW there is someone who has both a 500 and an 800 series oven in her kitchen. Perhaps Faleash. Anyway, I think the only difference is the knobs vs touch panel, and the lack of telescoping rack. You said the 500 also doesn't do the temperature conversion, but I don't consider that a necessary feature, or even desired for myself. Did you know you can order the telescoping racks for either oven? You could get 2 or 3 for the price difference in the ovens. I consider knobs a plus, so that's what I'd do in your shoes. Truthfully, I seriously considered Bosch when I had to replace my oven recently, but was a little turned off by 2 things: Their service has a less than stellar reputation, although I heard from someone (Mindstorm) whose oven was damaged and she found the manufacturer quite helpful and prompt with helping her. 2) No track record for these new models yet. Mindstorm, who did extensive scientific research on ovens before choosing hers, had the older 'European-born' 700 series Bosch and chose to have the same model put in, even though it was no longer the current model. She was so happy with what she'd had, she didn't want to take a chance on something new and different. Appliance salespeople just didn't know what to tell me about the reliability of these new ovens, as they haven't sold enough and for long enough to have received customer feedback. This tentative attitude from everyone made me a little nervous. If you do a search for my user name and ovens at the bottom of the appliance and/or kitchen forum pages, you will find a few recent threads, and some happy Bosch owners did chime in. Hope it helps, and best wishes on your oven decision.

Cyberinferno, a friend of mine runs a very high-end appliance store and has been in the business since college (well over thirty years of real-world experience in the appliance industry). Naturally, we purchase all my appliances through him. Since these new Miele large capacity front loaders hit the market my wife and I routinely stopped by to see him and compare notes. He purchased the Whirlpool Duet because of the additional deal he gets on them, and he loves them. The Miele offers no dealÃnot even to him, and we saved nothing on our purchase of the Miele's. Customers always love the Miele's, but change their mind on the price; he (there about two-dozen other employees) sells about one set of the Miele a week on average. The customers that do buy them, love them, and typically they are have or are purchasing other Miele, ASKO, or Gaggenau appliances. The W4840 washer on the showroom floor has the sagging door you mention, and my theory is that through shipping such long distances, the door has positioned itself lower on its hinge. The door itself is amazing as it commercial grade, and I do wish that Miele have used a longer side-hinge, but I will use some low resistance thread lock and realign the door if mine sags upon delivery (I suspect that it will). Albeit our kitchen appliances are all stainless steel we prefer white laundry appliances so a stainless steel option, for us, was of no interest. The build quality of the Miele's is top-shelf. I compared all the washers and dryers available, and a big hint regarding quality is if you look at the back of the unitsÃwhich I did, in great detail. Miele has a keen understanding of construction means and methods, with incredible details on the back of their machines as well as the front. This speaks volumes about Miele. In the automotive industry third-party consultants are clandestinely retained to purchase the competition's vehicles so said vehicles can be completely dismantled to learn about their design and construction. I read a report on a Lexus that was dismantled, and it stated that the parts of the vehicle that were unseen by the human were just as well thought out and executed as all that could be seen by the human eye! Miele is the same caliber, and that is what we wanted. P.S. My neighbor just completed a kitchen/laundry remodel and used all Miele appliances except the Miele refrigerator that is not sold in the States, but stopped short of purchasing the Miele washer and dryer. Why? Cost! Go figure, but he bought a Bosch Nexxt setup that they love, other than the mildew buildup in the door. However, when I told him that we were getting the Miele they want to come over and see how matters work out as they wanted Miele in the first place.

snowflake, I have the SHE58 series dishwasher. Let me try to answer your questions, though you might have better luck if you post this to the Appliances forum. 1. The rinse temp is raised to 160 F, for a period of time long enough to heat the water and maintain that temp for sanitisation, according to NSF standards. 2. On Bosch dishwashers, there is no "Sanitise" cycle. It is incorporated into the rinse cycle of the more normal to heavy programmes. My model has 5 cycles, of those 5, the "Auto", "Normal" and "Auto Super" wash cycles provide an automatic sanitising phase. While, the "Delicate/Econo" and "Quick" wash cycles do not. Also, there is no manual temp selection. The dishwasher "senses" the soil level and chooses a temp from the range within the cycle parameters. 3. I think I covered this one above. 4. "Half Load" is active in the 3 heavier cycles. It reduces at least two of the three variables you speak of, it omits at least one prerinse (on the "Auto and Regular" cycles it goes straight into the main wash), and time. I'm not sure of temp though, but I think that is maintained within the range specified in the programme. 5. Mine came with a cutlery tray that holds small knives and can also hold larger utensils that don't fit in the cutlery tray. I use it infrequently. It fits on the left side of the upper rack and works much like the fold down shelves, so you have to be careful with arrangement of things or they won't get enough spray. Hope this answers most of your questions, Todd

The difference are the ones that you stated - SHX has the bar handle, SHP is the pocket handle and SHE is the recessed handle. I did go to showrooms to checkout all three. I liked SHE because, I like the front display, you can easily tell how much longer it will take to finish. So we got that for our new house, and so far I am very happy with it. With the other two models the control is at the top and when it is closed and running you don't see the display that easily - which might be desirable just for the look - it is a sleeker look for sure. Functionality wise these models are all the same - all have 3rd rack, DBA is exactly the same. There is another model that is lower Dba (means quieter) but its not worth (IMO) the extra price.