I am also in the process of choosing appliances and have found the Appliance forum to be a great help. You may get help here, but you should also post you question over there, or search past threads.

I have a Bosch dishwasher and am pleased with its performance.... but what I love most is how quiet it is. It can barely be heard and does a nice job, using much less water than my old dishwasher. It also has a quick wash cycle that only lasts 30 minutes. We rinse our dishes real well before loading them so the quick wash works fine for us. Hope this helps.

We were told the same thing by a friend of the family who is an appliance repairman vis a vis Whirlpool. I also think Whirlpool has owned Maytag long enough that it may be safer to buy Maytag than it was a couple of years ago.I recommend looking at Consumer Reports as at least a starting point. I would worry less about their rankings and concentrate on how products score on the specific criteria they set out.

For instance my Mom bought the 40th ranked dishwasher which scores an excellent for cleaning (same as CR's #1 dishwasher) but lower on things like energy efficiency, quietness and it has fewer features. On average my Mom runs hers' once or twice a week so her primary concern was how clean it gets her dishes. As it turns out it is dramatically quieter than the 20 year old model it replaced and it is Energy Star qualified (just barely) so she is very happy (her dishwasher suits her requirements if not CR's). I think you get more from Consumer Reports when you focus on the information they provide and less on their rankings. I also recommend popping over to Amazon to see what the buzz is on specific models you are considering.

We have an older Maytag that does an excellent job of cleaning, but quiet is not it's best feature by any means. I was at a friend's house and her Bosch DW was running while we were talking and it in no manner got in the way of our conversation.

We're getting new appliances also (except the DW) and I'm leaning toward a bottom mount SS Kitchen Aid fridge and an Electrolux slide in range. Oh, and not an appliance, but will get a Silgranit sink.

Good luck!

I just ordered mine, Jenn air FD counter depth refrigerator, Jenn air slide in convection oven, and Jenn Air OTR microhood with convection and speed cook. This will give me a small second oven in a very small condo kitchen (8 X 8 U-shaped) I'm not getting a dish washer. They are coming in right about $5,000 including tax and there is a $300.00 rebate on three appliances going on right now. So they are actually costing 4700.00 (The rebate is higher depending on how many appliances you buy)

I wanted a stainless cooktop on the range and there aren't too many out there.
I was going to get Electrolux range (they are also having a rebate now) but three different dealers said they weren't worth the price. (Jenn Air was about $300.00 cheaper) I didn't like the GE cafe. Every model I looked at had a problem with the oven racks sticking.

I just hope I made good choices.

How exciting to think about new appliances. Have fun shopping. I just purchased Bosch for my entire kitchen.

It took me 4 months to really find what I wanted. I am slow at this sort of thing. I thought GE Cafe would be the one, then LG, Viking Stove, JennAir, KitchenAid (Whirlpool) but the best for what I wanted was Bosch. However it is not for everyone. This is a European appliance company so there will be some differences.

People complain about the tub having mositure but this is the drying process. There is no steam that is elminated into the kitchen so the tub can be wet. There is no grinder. But this is part of their green friendly direction. It rarely has to be cleaned out. The heating element is not out in the open so a dropped plastic spoon will not melt onto the heating element. I love that.
My husband loves that there is a an overflow tub and auto shut off to stop water overflow.

I have read on this site that some people do not want to use JET dry which is recommended. However when I contacted Bocsh they said you do not have to use Jet dry. It just makes the dishes spotless and flatware sparkle. Otherwise there could be some water spots because of their eco friendly drying process.

I used Epinions.com a site that gives opinions on appliances and 100s of other things. They helped me research. I would also get on line to see each appliance company. I love that JENNair has a new copper color. And while I did not choose this, I wish we had the right kitchen for it. The on line sources offer literature and ideas that might help.

I would also recommend going to an Appliance store, Lowes, Home Depot, Sears .. and really look at the different dishwashers, ranges, refrigerators, .... When my husband and I did this we discovered things we loved about JennAir, but disliked abotu GE. We found so many new options.

At one point we wanted a French door ref. However seeing it in person, realizing we would have a cumbersome drawer that could not fit what we wanted we gave up that idea.
I suggest, really look the appliances over. Open the doors, slam the doors, take racks out, putter about as though it were in your house and imagine where you would put the dishes to be washed, or food to be stored or cooking your favorite past. Check every thing from the buttons to the knobs, to the shelves, lighting... Do this so that you know what you want and what you like or don't like.

I hope this helps.

As others have said, you might want to check on the Appliances Forum.

In the meantime, about the Bosch. Bosch DWs, like European DWs, use the residual heat to dry the dishes. No, not everything dries 100%, but then again, neither does everything dry 100% in my KitchenAid DW. Most people are happy w/them. However, I have heard that loading Bosch DWs can be an issue, so take samples of your commonly used dishes (plate, bowl, pot/pan, etc.) with you and see how well they load in the Bosch you're considering.

KitchenAid...most people who have a KA DW seem pretty happy w/them...I, OTOH, am not particularly happy with ours (KA KUDS03STSS). We have to clean everything on Heavy Duty wash; Normal does not clean our dishes very well.

I had very bad experiences w/GE DWs, so I cannot recommend them. OTOH, our Maytag was great! It worked well and was still going strong when we gave it away when we demo'd our kitchen last year. It was around 8 years old.

Ranges....GE actually makes pretty good ranges, cooktops, & ovens. I was so pleased w/the GE Profile smoothtop range (w/convection oven) that I bought in 1995 that I bought a GE Profile cooktop, ovens, & warming drawer. One caution...make sure the glass/ceramic top is not a solid color (usually black or white)...a speckled top is ideal! BTW...our range was also still going strong at demo time so it was also given away.

We have a GE Profile refrigerator (counter-depth, bottom freeze, french door) as well and so far so good...no problems w/the icemaker, water dispenser, or anything else. It did take some getting used to the reduced depth & size from our old refrigerator....but we've adjusted. Our old refrigerator is in the basement and we use it for overflow.

HTH!

I have, all in stainless, all new:

LG dishwasher (hmmm, it is okay, but I'm not in love with it. I do like that the heating element is hidden - no more melting plastic items that have gotten loose - but I don't like the lack of options, such as cool vs heated dry. No delay timer either)

Kitchenaid counterdepth, French door, bottom freezer (like it so far. Have had Maytag French door, bottom freezer, full depth, and after a get-to-know-you period, got along fine. Inside of the Kitchenaid looks similar to the Maytag)

I also have a slide in Kitchenaid gas range.