Great Dishwasher but Not Perfect!
Written: Mar 16 '09
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Pros: Huge capacity, build quality, versatility. Dual display. Uses very little soap.
Cons: Could be quieter, upper rack adjusters poorly designed. Wash performance seems to have deteriorated.
The Bottom Line: Good machine if you can get it on sale. Since this is a relatively new design, a long term service contract would be advisable.
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| randomroyalty's Full Review: Samsung DMR77LHS Tall Tub Dishwasher |
Unpacking:
The build quality of this dishwasher is impressive. There are no stray bits hanging off the sides, back or bottom of the machine, as plastic shrouds cover virtually everything under a rather thin sound deadening layer. Connections for the inlet hose and drain are overbuilt. The tub is of very high quality stainless, and it appears that considerable effort has been made to maximize interior space. The door is very heavy and rigid and closes like a german car door, which gives an impression of solidity and precision.
From a design perspective, the machine appears to be a hybrid between a european and north American dishwasher. Like a European dishwasher this machine uses condenser drying, but also has a food grinder and an adjustable two-tier top that you typically find in American units. The trade-off by having a grinder is that the machine is a bit louder (3 db more than the quietest Bosch or Asko).
I prefer this design to the Asko, which has a fixed stainless tube that routes water to the top rack, effectively making it non-adjustable, not to mention the (slight) loss of interior space.
Installing:
Installation, as with most dishwashers, was fairly easy. However this machine is really at the upper limit in size, and I ended up having to drill new holes for water and drain in my kitchen cabinet in order to get the machine to fit properly under the counter. After the first trial installation, and finding it not that much quieter than the outgoing Kenmore, I decided it was probably a good idea to replace the previous plastic inlet hose with a new braided stainless one and also to cover up a few gaps with weatherstrip and add some sound deadening on the hard ceramic floor.
Using:
Once installed (the 3rd time) and properly leveled, we can safely say that the machine is pretty damn quiet! The machine is rated at 49 dB, which as I mentioned is not the quietest, and subjectively it does not appear to be that much quieter than our old Kenmore when next to the machine while it is running. However when out of the kitchen, it is not possible to tell it is running at all. With the Kenmore we would often find ourselves turning up the television in the living room, even though subjectively it seemed quiet. Having said that, if you must have the quietest machine, you might want one without a grinder as this seems to be source of a lot of noise.
http://www.samsung.com/us/system/consumer/product/2008/03/17/dmr77lhsxaa/feat_flexiblerack.jpg
We are still not completely used to loading the machine, but are quite impressed at its capacity. We use a 12 place setting service for everyday use, and run out of dishes before the machine is full. This means that there is plenty of room for coffee cups, assorted plastic containers and other cooking utensils. Samsung also thoughtully provides adjustability for most of the rack tines, and it is even possible to remove completely the two lower rack inserts. There are also a myriad of little clips to hold things down like spatulas and other items that might blow around during a wash cycle. To give an idea of the size of the tub, a 16 quart stock pot fits easily on the lower rack without interfering with the sprayer (with the upper rack in the high position). For this we give the versatility of the machine high marks.
Running the machine is very straightforward. As with other Samsung appliances, the dishwasher uses a "hidden" flat static touch panel, and there are no protruding buttons or mechanical switches. The lack of tactile feedback is compensated by musical beeps whenever a function is selected.
It has taken a bit of time to figure out optimal cycles to use. This machine has 6 cycles (Normal, Heavy, Delicate, Rinse, Quick and Smart Auto) with 3 options (Sanitize, Half Load and Delay Start). With our old Kenmore we found that the Quick or Econo cycle worked fine when we rinsed the dishes and it was relatively quick at 38 minutes, but Quick on the Samsung takes 1 hour, and the dishes came out wet! A look in the manual explained that the Quick cycle was the same as the normal but skips the dry cycle. Half load is limited to the upper rack, but it is not obvious how to arrange both plates, glasses cups and cutlery on the upper rack. We were also shocked at punching in Smart Auto and seeing 3 hours (!) showing up on the display! (This is a maximum, fortunately). For now Smart Auto, with its soil sensor, appears to work best.
Because we are trying to save water, we are trying to break old habits and not rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. I will now use the 10 minute rinse cycle after meals as it should take less water. However the dishwasher does tend to get smelly after leaving dirty dishes for more than a couple of days, so we may have to rethink the half load strategy and use the machine more frequently. This may not be a problem so much during the winter months.
This machine would have been disappointing if it didn't get the dishes clean, and it does an admirable job. We found that we do have to be careful about placement to make sure that surfaces come into contact with the spray arms as some residue can remain if we place things on top of the upper rack shelves. We have even tried lasagna baked on pyrex using the heavy cycle on the lower rack, and it removed everything. It is even good enough to get rid of stuck on bread dough from my Bosch mixer bowl, which I no longer have to hand wash. The glass test came out perfect, with no spots, film or apparent etching (using a rinse aid is essential).
What is really impressive about this machine is that it uses virtually NO soap. The manual says to use 15 gr (a tablespoon!) for a normal or smart wash, and an extra 10 gr (2 tsp) for the prewash in the heavy cycle. Because we calculated total cost of ownership, the soap cost more than offset the cost of additional water and slightly more electrictiy that this machine uses (when compared to a higher-end Bosch or Asko). This is no small consideration if you have hard or moderately hard water like we do. What I found interesting is the machine cleans without ANY soap...I found this out when a cutting board blocked the soap door from opening! I suspect that using soap is not really for its detergent properties but for sanitization. Yes the machine cleans that well.
Drying performance is good, but not as good as a heat and fan assisted machine and it does take longer. However this is the price of energy efficiency, eh? I think fan assist on this machine is a fair compromise to machines that don't have them (e.g. most European machines).
10 month follow up:
We are still happy with the machine, but there have been a few hiccups. First of all it does not seem to be cleaning as well. We are not sure if this is a water temperature/hardness issue. We wait until the summer (warmer) and are about to try a new detergent (no phosphate) to see if it makes a difference.
Next, the upper rack adjusters appear to be poorly designed. They hold onto the rack by six small clips, that tend to snap off, rendering the upper rack unusable. This seems to be a common problem with this machine and some people are complaining of parts issues. We will see how Sears will handle this at the annual inspection come April.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1000
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Epinions.com ID:
randomroyalty
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Member: Raymond Taylor
Location: Brossard, QC, Canada
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
I am an author and learning consultant located in Montreal Canada.
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