Remodel, Miele invented the 3rd rack if I remember correctly. Asko had them in their machines for many years too. The salt conditioner is built into the machine. I have fairly normal water and I fill the tank every 14months or so. It is a really easy process. I move the bottom rack out of the way, loosen the salt reservoir top and put in the funnel supplied by Miele. I dump in the salt and reverse my steps. In under 5minutes you are done. Bosch does not have a water softener as far as I know. I personally don't like the heated dry because I lost a couple of container tops that dropped into the heating element and made the house stink in a previous KA for many months. I like the air dry and don't really have an issue with plastics not drying. Granted, apart from the tops of glass storage containers, I don't have a lot of plastic in every load. Good luck with your choice!

Well, I'm glad to see some posts directed to the original poster's issues. Well, since he's been taken care of, Antss, last night I had drafted a rather long rebuttal to your post which basically kindly suggested you go boil your head. ;-) However, in between writing it, I realized that I needed your help on a question (separate subject) so I abstained from posting it. *grin* Anyhow, the gist of my response basically was a self-example showing why I don't like the "A is the best/most technical. Only buy the best/most technical." Case in point: I work at a research lab. Aside from our research, one of the things we do is build some particular extremely precise sensors for certain aerospace vehicles (no need to get into which ones). These are The Very Best such instruments you could get anywhere (or not get. More on that later). Super-precise, radiation hard, fast initialization, everything. This is not parroting a company line. This is fact. Our only customer is a certain body in the US government. Now, these devices are extremely expensive. They are very expensive and the only reason we (a lab) still fabricate them is that, aside from the complexity to provide the necessary sensor sensitivity & precision & robustness, the demand for such inordinately high precision instruments is extremely low (single digit orders of such devices every few years) making it not very compelling for the major aero-astro companies to produce. So, for these one-off sorts of builds, we continue to fabricate these when the need arises. Now, we are a lab, and while we have fabrication facilities for prototyping high-precision devices, we don't have manufacturing facilities. So, these systems are VERY expensive and will continue to remain so. Both because of the precision called for as well as the fact that no manufacturing principles can be applied to improve the efficiencies of production. OK. So we make the absolute best of such systems. And we're known for it. Still, that doesnt make what Honeywell and NG produce as the industry leaders in that market at some fraction of the performance and a fraction of the cost, junk or crap because it is "mass produced". In fact, when we get an inquiry from any other division of the govt. about these sensors, we scratch our heads and ask why they think they need such uber-precision. For more than 90% of the projects that we work on at my lab *we* have no use for our super-precise devices and we rely on the "lesser" products. And it is true that, by performance, compared to ours, they are a "lesser" animal. But by no means are those "lesser" items, "cheapened by production", a dismissible item. In fact, as I mentioned, >99% of the time for the world at large and >90% of our own activities, they are net superior because the performance is more than good (enough for the task required) and the savings in cost on the sensor unit means that we can afford more on other without in any way compromising on the required performance. This has gone on long enough and I realize that a Miele DW is no lab-grade unit, but the point was to say that I have daily proof that paying blind obeisance to "The Best" product and dismissing everything else as "cheapened", "advertised", and "mass-produced" is actually being penny-wise pound foolish. IMO, the only "The Best" is associated with an associated cost function/performance index. Seldom has a performance index been cited when a "Miele / Wolf/ Subzero/ whatever is the best" defense is provided. This is why I get & got irritated up there. There's actually loads more to say re: comparos made up above, but I'm just going to sign off now. Also you'll forgive me if I take your assessments about aircraft and Crays with a pinch of salt as I rather doubt you have some of the more interesting insights into these 2 worlds.

It happens with very elastic things all the time. Real Estate is a bit tougher. In the 80s when Barbra Striesand, Steven Spielberg, Diane Keaton et al., were hot for Stickley, they would pay $100K for a rare sideboard because it wasn't a big deal for them, but it drove the prices of ALL of it up. Now that it doesn't have the same cache, some big names have sold off their collections and Stickley themselves reproduce the same pieces, values have fallen. Compared to "more reasonable" real estate however, the fluctuations havent been so elastic, at least not around here> And urban houses May have more intrinsic value than a suburban development house, because in the burbs a newer sibling of the house may be a few minutes further down the road. Urban desirability may vary by the block. I had set a price when I started looking and in my target neighborhood found that it was simply impossible to find. I recently offered on a house that needed a full rehab but was full of potential. It was Not underpriced, and almost $100K over my (original, Unrealistic) target. There were four offers on it in a week, one for all cash, one for Over asking price, mine and another. Not in 2007, two weeks ago. Luckily, I don't Have to move right now and my target still well within my qualifying limit. Its pretty simple to say...just refuse to pay more than X...I could do that right now and live miles from here in a neighborhood that lacks infrastructure such as close grocery stores and public transportation, and perhaps even lacks a level of safety and security I desire. (and I am pretty adventurous when it comes to that).

I'd like to share a few thoughts on this topic and some of the most recent posts - both hear and on the Stone Advice site - of which, I am a moderator... (and theses are just My own opinions, as a regular guy) First - As a professional in the slab business, I feel that is the duty of all of "us" in the community (the Stone community) to "make sure that our customers KNOW what they are getting, so they won't be shocked when it gets there" - Obviously, in the case of raehelen/FinaMom, her Fabricator perhaps - did not take the time to educate her in every aspect of what the finished work would look like aka; seam size & appearance, vein trend, etc. Second - Consumers have a right to get the best product for what they are willing to spend their money on. That said, If you're paying for a Maybach, you should be getting the "Maybach" experience. Conversely, if you are paying for a VW, expect fewer thrills and frills. Third - I don't know to what context some of you have had conversations with some of the SFA members that you are refering to, other than saying that their customer service was not as good as advertised - and again, I don't know all of the facts on this situation, but... this is the busiest time of the year - the five most popular holidays that drive the stone business (in my opinion) are: Thanksgiving, Christmas/Hanuukah, New Years and... Superbowl. In all fairness to my SFA Brothers that may have given the appearance of "blowing anybody off" - it's hard to spend alot of time on the phone right now, when you have the bulk of your work out in the shop waiting for you to get back to work on... I'm not saying it's OK to not return a phone call or "blow off" somone's inquiry... just remember that these guys - just like me - are real busy right now......... If you want to bounce questions off of me - I'll take your calls, try to help you with your questions, and and I won't blow you off...go to my website to get contact info I'm busy too, but I also believe in making a positve impact on the Natural Stone Industry. Kevin M. Padden MIA SFA Fabriator, Trainer & Consultant to the Natural Stone Industry www.azschoolofrock.com Here is a link that might be useful: AZ School of Rock