Hotpoint SDW60 White Dishwasher

I don't like starting a review with the reasons I bought a particular item, but in this instance it seems like it might be useful to give a bit of background. I bought an SDW60 earlier this year to replace an older model Hotpoint that served my family very well for 8 years but eventually died from pump failure. When the repairer gave us the bad news and said that it would be cheaper to buy a new one, I didn't really bother looking at other brands but went straight for this one, the updated version of our deceased machine.

The SDW60 has many of the things you would expect from a dishwasher - 6 wash settings (delicate, prewash, fast, eco, normal and intensive), plus a delayed start option that lets you delay the start time (obviously) by 3, 6, 9 or 12 hours. It lacks an LCD screen, time indicator and advanced programming features but these are things I don't miss and I guess the majority of other people wouldn't either. In terms of pure cleaning ability, the SDW60 is a very good dishwasher. Dishes leave it (the majority of the time) completely clean and streak-free, the only exceptions being when you don't first rinse off the larger detritus or when you pack in the cutlery too close together; all things we experienced with the old Hotpoint. The lack of too many programming features also makes it easy to use - you just turn the machine on, select the program and push the 'start' button. Simples!

So why, if the thing is easy to use and cleans so well, have I only given it 3 stars? Well, it's hard to explain but the internal rack layout seems somehow `worse' than our older model, to a point that I find it much more difficult to find suitable places for all my dishes than I used to. The bottom rack is also quite strange in that it seems much lighter and flimsier and just doesn't sit in the dishwasher very well. The top rack is kept on its runners by clips at the end of the runner rails and these clips have a tendency to undo and if that happens it's a bit too easy to pull the rack off the runners completely.

The fast cycle (the one I use the most) has been increased from 20 minutes to 40, meaning that whereas I used to be able to come home for lunch and do the dishes then, now I have to turn the machine on and empty it when I get home in the evening. Hardly a problem of monumental proportions, I agree, but a bit of a pain if you need clean dishes in a hurry.

The thing is pretty noisy too, probably 2 to 3 times louder than our older one. In fact, it's quite difficult to hold a conversation in the kitchen when it's turned on, not because it's too loud to chat over but because it's loud enough to be distracting. There's no indicator on the rinse aid filler so you only know that the washer is full when rinse aid pours out of the top - Hotpoint do say to take care not to overfill but the older models had a simple indicator so it seems a little strange for it to have been removed. Plus, the washing tablet holder isn't quite big enough, or sized correctly, to take a standard tablet without a bit of force.

All these things are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things but they're a lot of problems that add up to one big ball of unpleasantness and are enough for me to remove 2 stars. If you want a dishwasher for its cleaning ability alone, then the SDW60 is worth a look, but if you're the kind of person who (like me) gets irritated by little quirks that really shouldn't be there, then perhaps you should consider another model.

I moved into a smaller place and had to get rid of my full size LG dishwasher BIG MISTAKE!!!!
So i got one of these the writting on the machine is already starting to come off after 8/9 months use and now the latest thing is the top basket does not always line up on the runners and there is a hole on the top shelf for the water supply and the basket to connect upto if it is not put in there properly does not wash dishes on the top shelf properly. All in all making it a rubbish machine that somtimes needs to go on twice for 1 load of washing!!!