Now we have to keep in mind that to my daughter, a brand isn’t really all that important unless your talking about: Clothes, shoes, or the hottest trendy gizmos. It was my job to show her the difference between value and reliability vs. throwing your hard earned cash away. 

Her only requirement was that it had to be an “18 inch stainless dishwasher”. That made things easy enough, as long as the product fit that requirement I could be the one to make the important decisions, such as the brand name, and the price. She didn’t know it yet, but my wife and I were going to be paying for this.  My daughter is responsible and independent like my wife, and I wanted to make her life a little easier (I know, I’m Super Dad right?).Other than my toaster, every single appliance in my home is made by Danby.  Why? You ask…they aren’t particularly the cheapest product out there, but they are the most affordable due to their quaility. 

In recent times a little company called Avanti has emerged with appliance products that have claimed to be as good as major brands like Danby, and Kenmore. Through the experiences of my friends I knew to stay away from this company.  Models like the Avanti DW1815S can be had for $330 dollars, and are stainless. The quality question comes into play when you have a stainless 18 inch dishwasher, that only weighs 70 pounds! 

One could also buy the rough and tumble Fagor LVC21W.  This is a machine worth noting for folks who have $3-4,000 to spend. This industrial strength dishwasher promises to last for 30 + years, and is an obvious masterpiece.  Sadly, this dear old dad would not be paying that much for a dishwasher, and I would never let my daughter – a college student pay that either.

I decided to buy her the DDW1899BLS. Its a stainless 18 inch dishwasher for $50 more than the Avanti, and $3000 less than the Fagor, this dishwasher was a considerable deal.  Danby makes many good models, this one just fit “my” criteria, and gave my daughter the stainless steel dishwasher she wanted. This company has never let me down, not one repair visit ever! When I find something good, I stick with it, and force my family to also.