Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)As of this writing, you haven't seen or heard much about this dishwasher, or indeed the company who makes it, but that's not because there's no quality involved. Minea is a 20 year old, French manufacturer of appliances, just starting to make inroads in the US marketplace. [...]
Their Premia Countertop Dishwasher is their flagship appliance and in the near year I've had it so far, an excellent one. Here's my experience:
About a year ago, my first countertop dishwasher, the noble Haier HDT18PA Space Saver Compact Countertop Dishwasher model, died on me, after five years of regular, and in the end intensive, use. That's a lot for a relatively inexpensive and "economically" made machine, so I considered it an investment well spent, and would even now recommend it -- but what stopped me from simply buying another was that it's more expensive now than when I first bought it (by about $100!) and one of its specs had changed: whereas the first iteration had two spray arms (one atop, one below), the newer versions have only one (so I've read in several places). The two-arm feature had distinguished the Haier from other brands, and I figured that if I was to spend more dough and settle for the one-arm compromise, I'd see what else had been created or introduced in the countertop dishwasher field before signing on with Haier again.
It's a limited field too. There aren't many models out there, NONE of them are perfect, and it seems only the Danby scores as well as the Haier with customer reviews. (And the EdgeStar seems to do poorly.)
I don't remember how I stumbled upon the Premia model on the web, but when I did, I was intrigued that it held six place settings rather than four (place settings translates into more room for more stuff, and some bigger stuff too). I was intrigued too that I'd never heard of the brand before, and wondered if the Premia was a better known model, re-branded in an exclusive higher-capacity design for certain distributors. So when I read the specs, I copied the names of the dishwashwer's operational settings -- there are six -- and Googled the string. Sure enough, the smaller Danby model showed up. I wrote a note to Minea via their website, to ask if the Premia was indeed just the Danby, bigger and renamed.
As it turns out, the answer is both no and yes. One of the company's honchos (and I believe one of the unit's designers) answered me, in subtly French accented prose too!, to explain that Minea and Danby share the same parts manufacturer. But Minea decided to improve on the design. The controls were changed from knobs to watertight electronic buttons, to remove the possibilities of wear and control pieces falling off. Next, the controls were moved from the bottom of the unit to the door, to maximize the loading space inside. It would seem also that Minea adopted the hose/adapter concept from the EdgeStar units: Unlike the Haier, which has an intake hose that attaches to your faucet, and a separate drainage hose, the Premia hoses are designed to connect to compact, single-piece adapter (actually they're connected out of the box, though the adapter is removable and replaceable). Easily fitting onto the faucet (each time you use the dishwasher) the adapter is a two-chamber affair: the top chamber feeds the intake hose; the bottom chamber releases the outgo. Thus the drainage follows the same trajectory as normal faucet flow, which eliminates the danger of a drainage hose popping out of your sink due to water pressure.
Another nice feature: Where the Haier has a simple screen to trap oversize particles, that needs to be wiped and then rinsed off after every use (not a huge inconvenience, by the way, but absolutely an extra maintenance step), the Premia features a kind of disposal drainage system. There's a short, cylindrical screw-in/screw-out piece, maybe two inches in diameter, located on the bottom of the loading chamber. Its outside is a fine wire mesh, and its circular center is a hard plastic cage, also surrounded by mesh. Water pressure from the spray arm literally pulverizes soft food remains so that they strain through the mesh and go harmlessly down the drain. The rare piece that's too big or too solid to pulverize gets trapped in the cage and can easily be dumped in the garbage.
Because there's only one spray arm, the odd item blocked from direct water path may not clean as thoroughly as those directly hit by the force of the stream. But usually, the heat from the cycle has so "cooked" any detritus that it flakes off with a simple paper towel wipe, and a quick rinse thereafter usually finishes the job. I have also found powdered detergent to get results far superior to gel, vastly reducing the need to "touch up" items after a cleaning cycle. Additionally I've found that, despite having six settings, including a rinse only and an economy setting which seems to be the default, the most efficient job is done at the highest setting. It takes longer (something over an hour) but it's worth it to have a nearer-pristine load. (As I said above, no countertop dishwasher is perfect, and you'll always make allowances somewhere.)
I'm not crazy about the flip-down, springy-plastic cup shelf design -- not for cups I'm not, anyway -- but as that implies, I've found my own uses for it; and the added loading space is so significant that it poses no meaningful inconvenience.
There's no drying cycle, but since those tend to be pretty useless in countertop models (mostly they blow hot, vented air and it doesn't do much), there's no loss. The Haier has a drying cycle and I disabled it all the time.
In general I'd say the build is more sturdy than that of the Haier too, stainless steel predominating over plastic. However deceptively, the Haier seemed a little flimsy; but the Premia feels pretty solid everywhere.
All in all, I'd say Minea's Premia countertop dishwasher is worth the extra money (especially if it lasts as long, or longer, than my Haier did), but browse a little before paying over $300. The most common base price seems to be $295; and I got mine from a "best offer" eBay vendor for $30 less than that, after negotiation, which absorbed the cost of delivery.
Click Here to see more reviews about: 6 Place Setting Countertop Compact Dishwasher
PDW-66EW Features: -Can wash up to 6 standard place settings. -Cycles: Heavy, Normal, Eco-light, Speed, Soak. -Electronic front panel. -Quick connect adapter included for most kitchen faucets. -Energy Star certified. -Easy to use full digital controls. -Durable spray arm and stainless steel interior. -Convenient automatic detergent and rinse agent dispenser. -Sanitary cycle heats water up to 149 degrees fahrenheit. -Overall Dimensions: 17.25'' H x 21.65'' W x 19.7'' D. -At-home 2 year limited warranty. Energy Guide Manual
Click here for more information about 6 Place Setting Countertop Compact Dishwasher
0 comments:
Post a Comment