Customer Reviews

Premia PDW-66EW 6 Place Setting Countertop Compact Dishwasher

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As of this writing, you haven't seen or heard much about this dishwasher, or indeed the company who makes it, but that's not because there's no quality involved. Minea is a 20 year old, French manufacturer of appliances, just starting to make inroads in the US marketplace. [...]

Their Premia Countertop Dishwasher is their flagship appliance and in the near year I've had it so far, an excellent one. Here's my experience:

About a year ago, my first countertop dishwasher, the noble Haier HDT18PA Space Saver Compact Countertop Dishwasher model, died on me, after five years of regular, and in the end intensive, use. That's a lot for a relatively inexpensive and "economically" made machine, so I considered it an investment well spent, and would even now recommend it -- but what stopped me from simply buying another was that it's more expensive now than when I first bought it (by about $100!) and one of its specs had changed: whereas the first iteration had two spray arms (one atop, one below), the newer versions have only one (so I've read in several places). The two-arm feature had distinguished the Haier from other brands, and I figured that if I was to spend more dough and settle for the one-arm compromise, I'd see what else had been created or introduced in the countertop dishwasher field before signing on with Haier again.

It's a limited field too. There aren't many models out there, NONE of them are perfect, and it seems only the Danby scores as well as the Haier with customer reviews. (And the EdgeStar seems to do poorly.)

I don't remember how I stumbled upon the Premia model on the web, but when I did, I was intrigued that it held six place settings rather than four (place settings translates into more room for more stuff, and some bigger stuff too). I was intrigued too that I'd never heard of the brand before, and wondered if the Premia was a better known model, re-branded in an exclusive higher-capacity design for certain distributors. So when I read the specs, I copied the names of the dishwashwer's operational settings -- there are six -- and Googled the string. Sure enough, the smaller Danby model showed up. I wrote a note to Minea via their website, to ask if the Premia was indeed just the Danby, bigger and renamed.

As it turns out, the answer is both no and yes. One of the company's honchos (and I believe one of the unit's designers) answered me, in subtly French accented prose too!, to explain that Minea and Danby share the same parts manufacturer. But Minea decided to improve on the design. The controls were changed from knobs to watertight electronic buttons, to remove the possibilities of wear and control pieces falling off. Next, the controls were moved from the bottom of the unit to the door, to maximize the loading space inside. It would seem also that Minea adopted the hose/adapter concept from the EdgeStar units: Unlike the Haier, which has an intake hose that attaches to your faucet, and a separate drainage hose, the Premia hoses are designed to connect to compact, single-piece adapter (actually they're connected out of the box, though the adapter is removable and replaceable). Easily fitting onto the faucet (each time you use the dishwasher) the adapter is a two-chamber affair: the top chamber feeds the intake hose; the bottom chamber releases the outgo. Thus the drainage follows the same trajectory as normal faucet flow, which eliminates the danger of a drainage hose popping out of your sink due to water pressure.

Another nice feature: Where the Haier has a simple screen to trap oversize particles, that needs to be wiped and then rinsed off after every use (not a huge inconvenience, by the way, but absolutely an extra maintenance step), the Premia features a kind of disposal drainage system. There's a short, cylindrical screw-in/screw-out piece, maybe two inches in diameter, located on the bottom of the loading chamber. Its outside is a fine wire mesh, and its circular center is a hard plastic cage, also surrounded by mesh. Water pressure from the spray arm literally pulverizes soft food remains so that they strain through the mesh and go harmlessly down the drain. The rare piece that's too big or too solid to pulverize gets trapped in the cage and can easily be dumped in the garbage.

Because there's only one spray arm, the odd item blocked from direct water path may not clean as thoroughly as those directly hit by the force of the stream. But usually, the heat from the cycle has so "cooked" any detritus that it flakes off with a simple paper towel wipe, and a quick rinse thereafter usually finishes the job. I have also found powdered detergent to get results far superior to gel, vastly reducing the need to "touch up" items after a cleaning cycle. Additionally I've found that, despite having six settings, including a rinse only and an economy setting which seems to be the default, the most efficient job is done at the highest setting. It takes longer (something over an hour) but it's worth it to have a nearer-pristine load. (As I said above, no countertop dishwasher is perfect, and you'll always make allowances somewhere.)

I'm not crazy about the flip-down, springy-plastic cup shelf design -- not for cups I'm not, anyway -- but as that implies, I've found my own uses for it; and the added loading space is so significant that it poses no meaningful inconvenience.

There's no drying cycle, but since those tend to be pretty useless in countertop models (mostly they blow hot, vented air and it doesn't do much), there's no loss. The Haier has a drying cycle and I disabled it all the time.

In general I'd say the build is more sturdy than that of the Haier too, stainless steel predominating over plastic. However deceptively, the Haier seemed a little flimsy; but the Premia feels pretty solid everywhere.

All in all, I'd say Minea's Premia countertop dishwasher is worth the extra money (especially if it lasts as long, or longer, than my Haier did), but browse a little before paying over $300. The most common base price seems to be $295; and I got mine from a "best offer" eBay vendor for $30 less than that, after negotiation, which absorbed the cost of delivery.

This is the third model of a countertop dishwasher that I have owned. Many reviews out there simply comment on the beauty of having a dishwasher vs. not having one. Any model is certainly better than none, but having burned through a couple models, I hope to help those who are unsure of which one to get.

My previous models were both Danby models. The first was a very simple dial-operated model that lasted four years. For a total out-of-pocket expense of $150, I couldn't complain about a 4 year life. The whole time it worked well (until the sprayer arm stopped), so we went with Danby's updated version of the same model for our next one. This one never worked well, lasted half as long and cost twice as much. We were ready for better quality and didn't want to go with Danby again. Other reviews out there said that Sunpentown models were basically Danby's as well but rebranded, so those were out of the running too.

The other reviewer here was very helpful and led us to purchase this unit. Note that Premia is the same as Minea (Minea is just the more recent name). Reviews noted that Minea has taken care to increase upon the quality of competitive models. Coming with a two-year warranty (compared to one year with others) made us feel more secure in our purchase since our last one died within two years.

The appliance is still very new but so far it is working far better than our previous models:

- Dishes are cleaner: We can use the normal wash cycle with great results. Other models needed the most intensive wash cycle for less effective results.

- The appliance is much quieter. We can finally run the wash and still easily watch TV in the next room.

- The filtration system is more robust. Others have a single metal screen to catch food particles. We would often have food get beyond the screen and have to fish out stuck food within the pump area. The Minea design has a secondary filter to catch finer food particles, and it works like a charm.

- The rack design is much better. Danby models had very wide gaps in the rack and dishes would fall through and block the sprayer arm. Minea has a great design, nothing falls and we can hold a variety of dishes. If you are like us, you never just wash the 4 or 6 piece setting they show in the pictures. We have various prep and serving pieces and tools that don't fit in prescribed areas, and Minea's design accommodates this much better.

- Dishes come out dry. Despite claims to the contrary, previous models did not dry the dishes. Now we can empty a load right away.

The only reasons I did not give this a 5-star rating are as follows:

- When pushing the rack back into the appliance after loading, it sometimes gets stuck on the sprayer arm. A couple parts of the rack sit lower and if the arm is in a certain position, it gets caught. It's easy to adjust, but everything else is designed well, I'm surprised this was overlooked.

- It would be nice to know what part of the wash cycle you are in while it's running. If you want to add something, for example, it would be nice to know if there is still wash time left. Also, because your sink faucet is unusable while running, it would be nice to know how much time is left in a cycle. Our very first Danby had the dial operation and you could at least see where it was in the cycle, which was nice. This one you just have to look at the manual to see run times and keep track of when you started it to know when it will finish.

In summary, I would recommend this model. Quality has so far proven to be better than at least some of the alternatives.

This does a great job, only wish we had bought one earlier. It's surprising how much you can fit in here ... pots, pans, etc. It's so nice to just load it up, let it do the work :-)

I've been wanting to get one of these units for a few years. In doing my research, I found that most units were described as flimsy, loud, and just not effective.

I wanted to use it for a month or so before I posted a review.

1. It is REALLY quiet! I live in an apartment building, and I really didn't want to hear complaints about some crazy clunking and whirring sounds coming from my place.

2. The fill and drain hoses are combined - joining at the faucet hookup. The water drains into the sink from under the faucet hookup. This avoids the problem of a drain hose possibly flopping around and spraying all over.

3. The dishes come out sparkly clean! I generally use the NORMAL setting (85 mins.), and it works just fine. I use the SPEED setting (45 mins.) if I'm just washing a lot of glassware and utensils.

4. The maximum amount of water it uses per load is about 4.2 gallons.

It did a great job on baked on food, as well as glasses and silverware. I've been using the Palmolive Eco liquid dishwasher detergent. At first, I was completely filling the receptacle, but there were suds in the bottom when the cycle was completed. No big deal, just use less detergent! Haven't experimented with any of the gel paks yet.

I agree with the other poster that it would be nice to have an indicator as to where the machine is in the cycle, but it really isn't that big of a deal to me.

I received the dishwasher in excellent condition, no problems with damage or missing parts. It is super easy to hook up - you just attach the hoses to the back of the unit, and screw on the faucet adapter. It's nice looking - no clunky dials, etc.

I HATE washing dishes, so this is my favorite thing right now!! No more dishes in the sink! I use it every 2 days or so. The Minea is definitely a pricey unit, but so far I think it's well worth it!!

We have owned a Premia countertop dishwasher almost two years. It is the right size for a couple who wish to run it once a day or for a small family who may have enough dishes to run it twice.

It gets the dishes clean and is fairly quiet. We can load the dishes for the day along with a frying pan and a small pot or two, then run the machine in the evening while we relax.

Some notes about the machine:

Clean the bottom filter after every two or three loads.

My largest soup pots and saute' pans do fit inside, just not at the same time as the large plates. The Premia has a longer cycle for cookware that gets them very clean.

Our large plates must lean towards the silverware container in order to fit in the machine. This is not a big concern, but it is not addressed in the manual and caused me some consternation at first.

Also, I removed the salad plate rack because it was too heavy when loaded. The bottom of the machine sagged and stopped the sprayer arm. It was quite unnecessary anyway. I place the small mixing bowls, pitchers and pots in that space to be washed.

Take care when you place the cooking utensils so they do not slip beneath the rack. If any part is below the rack, it will stop the spray arm. There is a shelf that may be used for the long handled items. Or the shelf may hold tea cups, prep bowls and jar lids.

Listen for the swoosh, swoosh of the rotating spray arm before you walk away from the machine. If a corner of a square item or a utensil has slipped below the rack and stopped the spray arm, the sound will be continuous, as the sound of a running faucet.

Occasionally, a smaller item, such as a peanut butter jar will be shielded from the spray in the corner by a plate and needs to be washed a second time.

BTW, I use my old Danby silverware basket because it is smaller and the extra space allows me to add one or two more items.

Our Premia six place setting unit replaced a Danby four place setting model that lasted about three years. The Premia cleans dishes much better than the Danby.

I bought this dishwasher as a present. However when I received it the dishwasher was damaged, but not from the shipping. It had a dent on top and the bottom was warped. Didn't mind the dent, but it wouldn't work anyways cause the sprayer kept hitting the bottom of the dishwasher rack. Somehow it shipped out of the factory like that. After getting the run around trying to return it, and after I spent twenty dollars in tape to send it back. The problem was I ordered it through another seller on Amazon. I sent Amazon a message, but never heard back from them. The only way I got anywhere was by searching for the seller online and contacting them directly. I received a new one about a month later. It works well but it does take a long time to go through a cycle. There is no way that you will be able to get six place settings in there, unless you own the same dishes that they used. Maybe they should sell the dishes with the dishwasher. I'm only rating this a three, because of the hassle I had to go through to get a new one.

I have been moving around apartments for years and as luck would have it, none of the apartments I have found had dishwashers in them. Portable was the only way to go if I didn't want a mountain of dirty dishes constantly in my sink. Two other brands of portable dishwashers lasted a year each and did a middling job cleaning dishes. This one on the other hand has already lasted longer than the other two. It also takes up the same amount of space, but because of its layout, can fit more dishes inside. It even cleans the dishes better than the previous ones I had.

The best feature however is in the base. There is a plastic housing designed to catch food and repeatedly spray it with water to pulverize it down. Food that can be pulverized is sent down the drain, while larger pieces that don't break down are caught more efficently than the simple strainers found in other portable dishwashers.

This was just a well thought out design for a portable dishwasher.

Flooded my apartment. it was a disaster, Theirs no food disposal. clogs up valves over time. I was out of luck