@thumper1 - why does your H hate the French door fridge?
Does anyone consult Consumer Reports anymore before buying? I remember my parents had a subscription to the magazine. They saved old issues and researched every major item before purchasing. I will confess I have not followed in their footsteps, but maybe it would have saved me from buying that side loading washer!
I read Consumers. I think I do better when I go to a privately owned appliance store that starts mid range and goes way up. I found their staff very knowledgeable. Prices are competitive. My least favorite item came from a big box store.
I also read GardenWeb.
I sometimes make a trip to the library and review Consumer Reports but often can’t find the model numbers they reviewed anywhere. I also try to look over online reviews from folks, but often they’re a mixed bag as well.
Agree with @HImom…by the time the review appears in print (or online), I cannot match up the model numbers.
Sometimes one brand has a Best Buy that is highly rated in one model while another model of the same brand is very poorly rated, so just going by brand name doesn’t work with the reviews either! It can get pretty confusing.
A few years ago we needed to re-stain/seal our deck. We decided to buy Behr Premium Deck Over from Home Depot. We followed the directions exactly, prepped everything, spent hours of labor and hundreds of dollars. Two years later and it’s all peeling off the deck in long strips. We can’t stain it now, because it’s half Deck Over and half bare wood. My co-worker said the stuff did the same on her deck.
Now we’re contemplating Trex (or similar) product.
Consumer Reports skews very much to a middle range of appliances (along the lines of what Sears carries) and seems to weigh certain aspects more heavily than I do and not consider aspects that I consider to be important. Over the years, I haven’t had a lot of luck with products they have rated highly so I have downgraded them to one of as many other sources as I can find.
I used CR to choose a dishwasher last year- I can’t remember if the product number matched exactly although I think it did. I also used an informal Facebook question to my friends. That was very interesting! Within minutes I had 20 + answers and 15 had the same brand and raved about it.
We had bad experience with Behr stain as well. We have a lattice fence that encloses a playground. We had it stained with Behr and within 2 1/2 years the whole thing was peeling off. What a mess - it all had to be re-scraped and re-done.
@psychmomma- ok, now I’d like to know the brand and model of that dishwasher.
@psychmomma my husband does not like the shelf configuration in the doors. He also hates the through the door ice maker.
^please
doing dishes by hand right now. Do not even own a dish rack 
The front says Bosch Silence Plus 50db- it is a model with the controls on the front, not hidden on the top of the door. We didn’t care about the controls showing and it was less expensive. This dishwasher is infinitely quieter than our previous 13 year old GE or Whirlpool, I can’t remember. Our floor plan is really open and the old dw was so loud, the sound carried everywhere. The first few times I ran this one, I would put my ear to the door to hear if it was really on. I’m a sample size of 1, but very very happy with this purchase. We’ve had it for maybe 9 months. (Yes, at least 15 friends said they had switched to Bosch and were happy with their choice, so that helped my decision along. CR had also rated many Bosch models very high.)
Thanks! You just saved me time!
Take some of your dishes with you to try in your potential dishwasher purchase. My daughter has a Bosch, but I hate the bottom rack. I ended up with a Kitchen Aid and am happy with it. It has the third rack which I love.
We bought the cheapest Miele dishwasher (the one with the rotary, not the electronic controls) 15 years ago. It’s very quiet and the layout of the racks, especially the cutlery tray at the top is the best we’ve seen. Still going strong.
Our Bosch is very quiet too. It’s a model no longer made. But very quiet!!
My parents have a Bosch, and like @silverlady, they don’t like the bottom rack. They are 80 and, first off, it is very low. Second, the configuration is awkward and doesn’t allow good/flexible dish placement. My mom is always cursing that thing.
I did take dishes with me when we looked at the dishwashers. Mine fit in the Bosch, but I agree that the bottom rack is different from our old dishwasher.