Excellent Cleaning and The Most Features for the Money!
Written: Dec 19 '07
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Ease of Cleaning:
Style:
Pros: Quiet, efficient, effective, looks nice, great price
Cons: Escaping steam can make it too hot to stand right in front of the unit
The Bottom Line: If you're in the market for a dishwasher, this one is a good bet! It offers the most features for the money, and the reviews I found were overwhelmingly positive.
eucher's Full Review: Frigidaire FDB1050RE 24 in. Built-in Dishwasher
The old Kitchen Aid Superbra was still running, but it was loud, and we had to rinse the dishes if we expected them to come out reasonably clean. I'm sure it sucked up a lot of water and electricity, too. So in March, 2007, when we decided to remodel the kitchen, I began researching dishwashers.
Now, my first thought was to pay $600 or so for the Bosch 24-in SHU43C07UC. I liked the reviews and the features, and Bosch has a great name. However, we ended up deciding to spend more money on counters and flooring, and find a more affordable dishwasher, oven, and microwave. We are budget crunchers for sure, but also want as much bang for the buck as possible. Just like everyone else, right?
So after researching (lots and lots of researching!), I settled on the Frigidaire-Precision Select 24" Tall Tub Built-In Dishwasher-White-FDB1050RES. We found the best deal at Bestbuy.com -- $322.49 including tax and $60 delivery (as of this minute, it's $20 more than I paid, at $269). The delivery service drops it in the room you want it in, but doesn't install it for you -- fortunately, our brother in law is very handy, and he took care of the installation and hookup.
This has been a great dishwasher so far. I use it daily and it is very quiet, very roomy, and does a pretty good job of cleaning dishes. Mostly I run it on the light wash, which is slightly shorter and more energy efficient than the regular wash, and dishes come out all clean 8 out of 10 times -- however, there are times when I asked it to do too much, and should have run it on regular wash because food was stuck on when the plates went in. I've learned my lesson though -- especially after writing this review and revisiting the number of washes & rinses each cycle provides!
The unit has 5 cycles: Pots and Pans (2 washes, 5 rinses, 8.5 gallons used, 104 minutes - Hi Temp Wash), Normal Wash (2 washes, 3 rinses, 6.1 gallons used, 89 minutes), Light Wash (1 wash, 3 rinses, 4.9 gallons, 74 minutes), Upper Rack (1 wash, 2 rinses, 3.7 gallons, 65 minutes), and Rinse Only (2 rinses, 2.4 gallons, 18 minutes).
There is great space inside. I can fit my glass pizza pan in the bottom without leaning it over, and my 8 quart stock pot fits (barely, but it does!) on the top rack. The cup racks fit my wine glasses well (those I do lean over, to protect fragile stems). The holes in the silverware basket are small enough that things don't slip through.
The FDB1050 dishwasher comes in white (FDB1050RES), black (FDB1050REB), bisque (FDB1050REQ) and stainless steel (FDB1050REM). MSRP is $329. Frigidaire has an owner's manual available online, so you can view all of the specifications here:
One important feature to me was the "100% Filtered Wash Water - No Pre-Rinse Required." According to Frigidaire, "100% of the wash water is filtered to remove food particles as small as coffee grounds, eliminating the need to pre-rinse dishes."
There is also a stainless steel food disposer, about which Best Buy says, "Stainless-steel food disposer with self-cleaning filter grinds food chunks into pieces small enough to be rinsed away, preventing food particles from sticking to clean dishes and eliminating the need to prewash."
Heat Dry automatically comes on when you select any cycle, but you can de-select it. However, per the manual, the Heat Dry option costs pennies per cycle, and I can tell you from experience that if you don't use it, you will have lots of water remaining inside when done! As it is, with Heat Dry, there is still quite a bit of water beaded up on the ceiling of the unit. I just try not to brush my arm against it when unloading!
You can open the door after it has started, and add dishes or reconfigure the load, and as soon as you close it again, it resumes where it left off. Very handy!
The manual has pictures of examples of how to load the dishwasher, and says you can wash a complete setting for 12! (Best Buy claims 14 ... I can't confirm that, not having quite that many dishes, though between my large and medium plates, it's been close).
As stated, I use this appliance EVERY NIGHT and have been very pleased. It is so much less expensive than other brands that offer the same features. If you are looking for an efficient, quiet, relatively fast, good looking, and affordable unit, I highly recommend the Frigidaire FDB1050RES!
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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