Dishwashers.(Buyers Guide)

Getting the gunk off dishes is a breeze for most dishwashers--even basic machines that cost around $350. If you want cleaning prowess plus quiet operation, flexible loading, designer styling, and efficient use of water and energy, be prepared to pay several times that. In our latest tests, the dishwashers that offered the best of everything cost $800 and up. Here are highlights from those tests.

PERFORMANCE, FEATURES, AND DESIGN

We found that even low-priced dishwashers did an excellent or very good job cleaning extremely dirty dishes. And they did so with no prerinsing. Skipping the sink can save you 20 gallons of water a load, or about 6,500 gallons a year. Some tested models used only 5 gallons a load; others used twice that. The most energy-efficient model costs about $39 a year to run with an electric hot-water heater; the least efficient, $86 a year. (Costs are lower with gas.)

The quietest dishwashers are so hushed that it's hard to tell they're running, but others can be quite loud. Many models now have a dirt sensor, but we don't consider that a must-have feature. While all the sensor models used less water for clean loads, most weren't sensitive enough to differentiate between degrees of dirtiness. A sensor adds $50 to $100 to the price.

A self-cleaning filter is the norm on American dishwashers. Most also have grinders that wash food down the drain--convenient but noisy. Import models that emphasize quiet operation generally have a filter that you clean by hand.