I have an older Kitchenaid Superba dishwasher which I have been happy with for years. I believe it was the last of the company's production before it was sold several years ago by the Hobart Corporation (a commercial restaurant equipment manufacturer) to Whirlpool (a U.S. appliance manufacturer) and the company changed the Superba design. The dishwasher exhibits few if any of the complaints listed here, such as pre-rinse of dishes, food deposits, and inability to scrub burned or baked food from pots and pans. The machine regularly scours baked on food residue from pots, pans and baking dishes.

If I could improve an already wonderful machine however, I would like it to have a lower basket that could be easily pulled out and up to kitchen counter height. Similar to the way a stand mixer platform is pulled up to counter height from an undercounter storage cabinet.

The machine's features include, built-in food waste disposer, upper rack which can be adjusted up, down or on an angle, adjustable tines on the upper rack, a tiny item basket in the silverware basket, upper rack spray arm with guard to prevent blockage of the arm by large items in the lower rack, preheating of wash water to 200 degrees F., 10 cycle selections, energy saver dry setting, quiet operation but not as quiet as a Bosch, and replaceable front door panels. The machine consumes 7 gallons of water per usage, which at the time I purchased it, was very efficient.

In comparision to some current model machines this one is sturdily built into a heavy steel frame with a porcelain enameled steel wash cabinet. The machine weighs probably over 100 pounds. By comparison, the GE dishwasher that my machine replaced had a light metal frame and a plastic wash cabinet.

It's quite annoying having to open my dishwasher to find my child's sippy cup turned over and filled with water. Same goes with my measuring cups. Another annoyance would include having to turn the volume up on my tv while the dishwasher is on. Let alone dreading to even talk on the telephone while it's running. My dishwasher is not terribly loud, but utterly not quiet enough. I too experience having to lay my spatulas and such down horizontally because they are too tall to sit in the utensil bin. My dishwasher only beeps twice after the dishes are done, but i'd rather turn off that feature completely. I also have a clean/dirty indicator but it's not very efficient because the indicator doesn't reset itself unless I completely open then immediately close the dishwasher.

I saw in a show a while back a dishwasher that was in the middle of a table. It rose out of the table to clear dishes and then sank back down to wash/hide them. The table also had the dish storage. I don't think I like this idea in the table, but it would work in the counter. Instead of the door swinging down and getting in the way or the kids thinking they can stand on it, just push a button and have it rise out of the counter until it rests at counter height. Fill, or empty, and go on.

You kitchen would have to be designed with this in mind though, as many kitchens have cabinets above their counter that may not allow ample space for the dishwasher rising.