New kitchen - dishwasher from Ikea or another manufacturer?

We have one from the IQ500 series. I mostly only use either the Eco program or the short program. However, I placed importance on a cutlery drawer, an adjustable upper basket (because of the large pasta plates and tall pots), and an end time projected onto the floor. The same model was also available with WLAN connectivity, but I didn’t really need that.

After various models from Siemens, Elektrolux, and some Polish brand in rental apartments, we have had the affordable Miele Active G4203 for about half a year now. The design fits well in our 1950s kitchen – it might look strange in some new-build kitchens, but: - Hot water connection in this price range I haven’t seen anywhere else - Height-adjustable upper basket – super practical for casserole dishes and pots - Cutlery drawer (depending on the variant) provides extra space for everything else and unloading is three times faster - So far, top-notch cleaning performance - Unfortunately without a quick wash/short program (auto takes about 2 hours) According to the salesperson in the electronics store, all other brands/manufacturers are designed for a service life of 7 years, Mieles for 15-20 years. Now, whether that’s true, I don’t know, but it wasn’t more expensive than comparable Bosch/Siemens/Bauknecht stuff either.

Doesn't every dishwasher have the height-adjustable upper basket? Even our cheap Beko had that.

Where I struggle with our Bosch are the coffee mugs. There is only one row on the left at the top where they really fit. They would also fit on the right side, but the non-height-adjustable second level gets in the way. With the Beko, you could move that up and down.

We consciously decided against the cutlery drawer. It might work with extra tall dishwashers, but with the normal ones it took up too much height. You can also quickly take out the cutlery basket if, for example, two people are unloading the dishwasher.

Cutlery drawer is fiddly stuff and takes up height. We have seen it in the family and definitely don't want it.

You can also quickly take out the cutlery basket, for example, when two people are unloading the dishwasher

The cutlery drawer has the advantage with high-quality cutlery that it suffers no small scratches for a much longer time.

I would never want to miss it again. It is also practical for smaller plastic containers. The Tupperware parts tend to do a little dance in the normal area and then stand full of water. Our drawer can be folded down a bit on one side.

The cutlery drawer is fiddly and steals height. We have seen it with relatives and definitely don’t want it.

We find it much more practical since the cutlery basket took up a lot of space and not all pots would fit inside.

Cutlery drawer is fiddly and takes away height. We've seen it in the family and definitely don't want it.

With a cutlery drawer, loading takes a bit longer, but unloading is faster (if the dishwasher is near the cutlery cabinet). To compensate for the lost height, you take an XL dishwasher, then you have about the same height in the upper basket as before with a cutlery basket. And more space in the lower basket.