I hate doing dishes. Passionately. So much so that I have been searching rental ads, looking to move to a different house, specifically one that has a dishwashwer. Turns out a better investment was buying the EdgeStar portable dishwasher - purchased in a fit of frustration after using the last clean dish in the house. This little device is amazing. I can't believe how well it cleans even caked-on or sticky, etc. dishes. It also holds my large plates, wine glasses, smaller pots & pans... the only things I have to wash by hand anymore are cookie sheets and large pots/pans. I was able to install it myself, just screwed the attachment onto my sink faucet with no additional hardware needed. (You clip a second hose attachment on/off the screwed-in attachment when you need to use the faucet.) And it's so simple - just put in the soap, clip on the hoses, turn the machine on, turn the water on, and that's it.
Only drawbacks (but it still gets 5 stars because it works so well overall):
-Installation was a little confusing; I didn't think the directions were clear, and I ended up figuring it out by trial & error. I also had to use some electrical tape to wrap around the screw-in fixture to keep it from leaking at the connection to my faucet. Could be my old faucet hardware that is the problem.
-At first, my dishes came out spotty and/or filmy and not that clean. After the first couple washes, I was really disappointed. But then I switched detergents, and it made ALL the difference. Now my dishes come out crystal clear and squeaky clean. I recommend those little combo detergent/rinse agent packets - they work great for me.
-It's bigger and heavier than I expected (yes, I read the dimensions, but I have pretty poor visuospatial skills). If you have limited space, make sure to measure carefully because it is much bigger than a microwave (which is how I had kind of pictured it).
-The connection to the faucet still isn't great, and for me, a bit of water trickles out and runs down the side of the clip-on attachment while the machine is in use. It is not a lot, and certainly a lot less water than I would use washing a sinkful of dishes otherwise. Again, could be my faucet.
All in all, I love this dishwasher more than I ever thought I could love a kitchen appliance. It works brilliantly and has made such a difference in my life. I cook more, my husband and I never argue about the dishwashing chores, and I don't have to move to a new house!
It does what a dishwasher is supposed to do - wash the dishes.
In case you've never owned a portable dishwasher before, it goes like this - you hook it up to the sink with a tube that pumps water to the dishwasher and then pumps dirty water back into the sink. Mine came with a special part you hook up to the faucet. You plug it in, load it up, add some soap and let it run. There's slightly more steps than a normal under-counter dishwasher, but it's smaller and thus there's more room.
However, it's worth noting that this thing is bigger than a microwave. If you're going to put it on a cart, a microwave cart probably won't be big enough.
I've only used the 'rapid' cycle, as other people seem to recommend, and it's worked great. There's no leaking and no mess - except if you're careless about disconnecting the sink hookup, but that's to be expected. It's like when you turn off a garden hose and lift it from the middle, water still in the hose is bound to come out the only way gravity will let it.
It doesn't seem to have any kind of sound muffling so it's a bit loud. Not too loud to run in the middle of the night with neighbors sleeping one room over but it's no gentle hum either. It's heavy too, I nearly hurt myself getting out of the (huge) box it came in. Neither of these are enough to overshadow the performance and general convenience though.
I've read a lot of bad reviews about this thing. I've come to the conclusion that the majority of them come from people who have never used a portable dishwasher before. Having owned a larger model myself, I knew the basics of what to expect. As with any plumbing that comes partially 'pre-assembled' you need to tighten and adjust everything to avoid leaks - machines put these things together most of the time, not people. You check the seals, the general quality of the product and watch over it the first time you run it. Just in case. If something goes wrong the odds are that it was used improperly.
All in all, I'm satisfied. It works well and I don't have to do the dishes by hand anymore.
[UPDATE] - December 30, 2010
I still stand by everything in my review. This thing is a great convenience. I haven't had any leaks, malfunctions or trouble.
[UPDATE] - August 20, 2011
A year later and still working like a dream. If it starts to smell inside, just run a cycle with a little bleach and it'll take care of that. If some build up starts to happen around the seal, just wipe it down with a sponge. Both of these things can happen with any dishwasher, so it's not a big deal.
[UPDATE] - October 6, 2011
Minor (stupid) user-end issue today. A chopstick was poking into the seal when I closed the door. It still locked closed and I didn't notice the chopstick sticking into the seal until one of the rinse cycles started. A lot of water leaked out. I caught it almost right away and it took about 20 minutes to clean up. There was no damage to property or the dishwasher though. Still totally recommend it.
The edgestar countertop dishwasher is a very good dishwasher. It is short enough to fit under my cabinet doors, and just the perfect size to fit between my sink and oven. You will definitely want to measure hieght, width, and length of your countertop next to your sink before purchase, since if it is even a little too large, it obvious won't fit and makes it's relative usefulness 0.
The product in question cleans my dishes well. Some dishes have to be placed in the dishwasher at an angle. You can fit most pots and pans in there, as long as you are willing to dedicate a wash to just one or two pots or pans. The only thing I haven't been able to fit are cookie sheets.
On a daily basis, I usually must preform 2-3 washes between me an my fiancee to keep the dish sink empty. The item is relatively light weight, and with the exception of it's size, I had no problem lifting it up to the counter.
If you are restricted to a small apartment without a dishwasher, this is a great idea in order to keep your dishes clean.
The product recommends attaching a permanent water line, which kind of defeats the purpose of a portable dishwasher. However, the sink attachment works great. Both hoses are attached together, so you don't have to worry about one flying out of the sink. It easily detaches and reattaches, no leakage as long as you make it secure. It also has a release button to release pressure safely before you remove the attachment.
The dishwasher consists of three cycles. Normal/short/ and rinse. When you start Normal cycle with the eggtimer style clock it will continue on through short cycle. After short cycle is done, it stops. You will need th start rinse cycle manually, but since this cycle is only a convenience, not a necessity, it's up to you whether to use it. There are two other buttons, the power button (self explanatory) and the saniwash dry button. The sani button superheats the water in order to be sanitary. It also seems to help with the after drying, seeming to be kind of a steam dry. It is very useful if you accidentally let some bacteria start growing on something you washed to be extra sanitary. I would not recommend using all the time however, since the hotter temp it uses probably puts more wear and tear on the dishwasher, although thats just a theory, nothing confirmed.
Anyway, great device for people who hate doing dishes and want a slightly easier time. It's noisy, but not much more than any standard dishwasher. Make sure it fits and you shouldn't have any difficulty with it.
Update:
About two months after getting it, the attachment to the sink broke. I called them back, they asked for my tracking number, which I had to obtain from the seller. After that, they sent me the attachment free no questions asked, arrive in 5 days, not a bad deal...
UPDATE 2:
I no longer have this dishwasher. The attachment I spoke of breaking I ended up having to replace 3 more times before I finally used my own hose attachments and rigged my own attachment that was metal and held up better. Shortly after, the dishwasher started leaking through the glass door. This was roughly two years after getting it. At that point, I had to put it to rest, as I was unable to repair it. It does seem to be the best dishwasher out there for that size, but I have found it riddled with problems and there always seemed to be something with it breaking. It's great if you don't have a choice, but for $100 more, most cheap full size dishwashers could outperform this one any-day.
--Edgestar Portable Countertop Dishwasher--
Pros:
The performance of this dishwasher is excellent given its portability and price. Unlike what other reviewers have posted, it does indeed have the ability to dry dishes by heat on its most powerful cleaning setting (which runs about an hour and a half). It doesn't just utilize hot water from the sink--the dishwasher adds its own more powerful heat. I use this dishwasher in my studio apartment, and the end result of dishwashing is generally that dishes turn out as clean as they would in an installed dishwasher of medium performance. The sink hookup--which is sturdy enough for me to feel confident about leaving my apartment with the washer running--has been made convenient and generally easy to use--for a sink hookup, at least.
Cons:
-it's fairly loud when operating;
-the design of the inside rack, I think, is poor--it's not hard for utensils and smaller dishes to protrude through the bottom of the rack and block the rotating sprayer below. It's important that you take the time to carefully place your dishes not only for fit inside a small dishwashers, but also to ensure against this kind of blocking;
-it's imperative that you use a rinse aid, as the dishwasher with detergent alone doesn't seem to be effective in preventing spots on clean dishes;
-it's difficult to determine when the dishes are actually finished--the machine will indicate this by beeping, but in the interim there are several long pauses and a blinking indicator which can be confusing in asking yourself, "is it done? Can I disconnect it from the sink now?"
-my own model was sent with a slightly crooked lower panel, which wears badly on my "OCD" in wanting the thing to look straight and together.
Bottom Line:
For the price you pay for this dishwasher ($280 with shipping factored in), the apartment-friendly size and portability of the thing, and for the technology--which is surprisingly high tech--I think it's a very solid and good-performing piece of equipment. Dishes come out as clean and sanitized as they would from a decent installed dishwasher. To make sure this happens, though, you must take extra care loading the dishwasher and make certain the bottom sprayer isn't blocked--which can happen fairly easily with a poorly-designed rack. For dishes as clean as they'd be from an installed washer, you must use a rinse-aid and the most powerful cleaning setting. The technology isn't there yet for this be five stars, but the Edgestar represents a pretty solid shot at getting there.
as an army wife having just moved back to the states with a very active 15-month old boy, sometimes getting dishes done was not only last on my list, but almost always undone! This appliance is a life-saver! It's cleaning great, and isn't overly huge (we did have a microwave cart to put it on). Fits a full service for 4 easily, even the big dinner plates with room to spare! Some of my coffee cups had to be relocated to the bottom shelf, but that it ok. Not being able to have the room for a full-size or even a rollinf dishwasher in our tiny kitchen made this dishwasher a must! Can't beat the energy-star label and that it was very simple to install! Granted, I have a portible washing machine so I knew how to do it so install took all of 15 min. All the pieces will need to be securely tightened before use, they are not factory tightened. but it was very easy. The only complaint I hve is we will still have to wash some things by hand, but that is to be expected as this IS a small appliance. It's roughly 1.5x bigger than our 900w emerson microwave, so keep that in mind. It fefanately wouldn't have fit on our counter! Also, make sure you release the water pressure via the red button on the part that attaches to the faucet before you diconnect the machine, it will save you a huge mess! All in all, this is a great buy and so far, I would definately buy one again if i didnt have the room in a future kithen! Worth every penny!
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I've had this dishwasher for about a month now and so far so good. Other reviews were helpful in pointing out that the powder detergent works best and to be sure to press the pressure release (red button) before disconnecting the hoses. I have found that although some water is supposed to stay in the unit, some still remains in the hoses after the cycle is complete. I usually just start a new cycle and then stop it after it pumps the remaining water out. That seems to do the trick.
As my cabinets are very low, I ended up putting the dishwasher on a rolling cart and easily connecting the hose to the sink for each use. I read that some people had trouble with the sink attachment breaking after several uses, so I just keep it screwed on and then just snap the hose in place when needed.
All of my dishes fit into the washer, for some of the larger ones, I just had to try a few times to face them in different directions. For my wife and I, we fit 1-2 days of our dishes in with no problem. I am planning to stick something on the side of the washer to hold the hoses/cord in place though.
I bought this for my mom, who has a small, oddly shaped kitchen that wouldn't allow for a larger dishwasher. It was easy to set up (though I found the directions kind of confusing, there aren't many parts and it's pretty much obvious). We had one leak during the first load, but my brother discovered it was just that I hadn't fully tightened the connection between the sink and the machine. Since then, no problems and my mom even recommended it to her hairdresser.
I also really like the form/design. The sleek silver look is very sexy and modern.
so far so good,a little large for an average counter, but works good.Could use a few more cross bars on the basket to keep smaller lids and such from stopping the wash arm from spinning.Over all worth the price. Holds a suprising amount of dishes for its size.... Ok,4 years later used almost every day it still works great, couldn't as for more.
I got this machine in 2009 from Amazon. I use it almost weekly, so far no issues to date. Love it and glad I got it. It is limited on space, but what do you expect with a half sized counter top d/w. I have been in quite a lot if you move the utensil tray to a corner you can fit more and don't be afraid to stack on top of things.
Love it. This dishwasher came with everything needed to connect it directly to the kitchen faucet. It fits perfectly well on any countertop space next to the faucet and you do not have to pay for professional installation. However, if you have a big family this might be a little too small for you.
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