Not a fan of packages. More bang for the buck if you buy different appliances from different companies. Not a fan of the Bosch Ascenta either, the tub floor is plastic vs. stainless on the other models. Bosch has a comparison tool on their website that I would recommend using for their dishwashers. They do have a ton of models. Before you start, use the filters on the side of the screen first to make the list less daunting. For example: pick stainless, pick top or front controls, handle type, etc.

If I were forced to do a package, I would get Bosch with at least the 300 series dishwasher. I would also consider buying an induction cooktop instead of gas.

hvtech42 - thanks for the info. We are leaning towards doing the Bosch cooktop, then KA for everything else (basically so the appliances with handles are matching, and we slightly prefer the KA fridge). I will try the tool you mention for the Bosch dishwashers, for some reason I'm having a hard time distinguishing their features on the website and others like Lowes haven't been that helpful either. We are fine with getting the higher level Bosch dishwasher, but wasn't able to see what the "upgrades" were for the money. Definitely the stainless interior makes sense.

I haven't thought about induction at all, mostly because the idea of figuring out a whole new way of cooking and getting new pans in the midst of figuring out all this other stuff for the house (we are expecting a baby also at the same time) leaves me a bit overwhelmed. This is the reason we are going to forego the steam oven and speed oven right now as well. I will check out the induction cooktop though, thanks so much for the recommendations!

Consider a Bosch 500 series or above. Those have the 3rd rack for cutlery, ramekins, and other misc. things and usually have lower db's than the Ascenta.

Induction is really easy to use and there's not much to figure out. All you need to do is start using it and enjoying the superior safety (definitely something to consider since you're expecting a baby), ease of cleanup, responsiveness, and power.

The only thing you'll need to check is whether your cookware will work with induction. Just see if a magnet will stick to it. Even if a lot of it isn't, trust me, it will still be well worth it to upgrade to induction compatible cookware.

I can't speak to the other appliances, but I shopped for refrigerators recently. Due to cabinetry, my choices came down to the Kitchenaid Architect II 36" FD refrigerator versus the Bosch 800 FD. I eliminated the Samsung and LG's. They seemed flimsy and their service records are pretty bad.

Even though I was getting rid of a Kitchenaid side by side that I hated, I ended up with the Kitchenaid Architect II FD.

Why? I really liked the grey interior with LED lighting. It was different from anything I had seen. I still love it when I open it up. It seems like Star Trek.

I liked the ice maker arrangement better. The Bosch makes ice much more slowly, although the cubes are square. Which is kind of neat.

I also liked the double slide shelf in the freezer drawer versus the single slide out in the Bosch. It has been a good decision for me. I can see the contents better. I have a separate pantry freezer that deals with the bulk of frozen items.

I am able to open either door and close either door in no particular order. Some FD units require a sequential order to open and close. I find the door opens and closes easily. I have heard from others that they like a more firm close or self closing operation. I am not careless with door closing, I give it a push each time and it does the trick.

The price was comparable but not the main factor. What I wanted was dependability. I can find lots of reviews on both refrigerators where buyers hate either unit. But, I found a lot more that that hated the Bosch. It must have gone through a period of reliability issues when it first came out. I never got the feeling that they had corrected the issues. It seemed like there were a lot more complaints for the Bosch. It spooked me. I even bought and subsequently canceled the Bosch.

I am a happy owner, six months, of the Kitchenaid Architect II FD. I can recommend it.

HomeChef59, thank you so much for sharing your personal experience between the two fridges. The fridge is the main driver for going KA with the rest of appliances. We also slightly preferred the KA to the Bosch in terms of design/use in the fridge, although the ones we looked at seemed very, very similar. I want to get something reliable, but as you mentioned I'm can find horror stories for both. Great to hear you are enjoying your KA Architect II FD. I should have noted above, but we are looking at the counter-depth french door model without water/ice in door at 22 cu.ft. Thanks so much for your help!

Hvtech - working on "selling" husband on induction. will see how it goes! : )

Have both KitchenAid and Bosch in the kitchen. The wall oven and wall microwave are KitchenAid Architect II and look beautiful (had to get KA because Bosch did not have small enough for my kitchen). The refrigerator, hood, dishwasher and induction cook top are Bosch. The two brand look very well together; actually, no one has noticed that the appliances are two different brands (or they have not mentioned it).

I am not a fan of purchasing packages from a single manufacturer. While I like my Kitchenaid Architect II refrigerator, I also like my Bosch dishwasher. I also have Thermador and Vent-A-Hood. I'm about to install a Bluestar range top.

I suggest you consider each appliance independently. Packages rarely work out to be cost effective. Let the matching appliances thing go.

We had all Kitchenaid Architect II appliances in our last kitchen, now have all Bosch.

We went with the Bosch CD refrigerator over the KA, primarily because of the handles on the KA fridge. We found that after less than four years they had started to get loose on our old side-by-side KA fridge with just normal use (and we're just two adults in the household). Also, the stainless steel on my KA appliances showed fingerprints horribly.

Inside the CD refrigerators the KA and Bosch are almost identical; my freezer configuration looks exactly the same as the KA (I just checked). The KA does have a butter dish, and the Bosch doesn't. However, the handles and horrible stainless on the KA were a deal breaker for me.

With the dishwashers, it's a toss-up. I liked the loading configuration with my old KA dishwasher much better, and it had heat dry (which the Bosch doesn't). However, I found the stainless showed every fingerprint and water droplet, and again, that curved handle on the Architect II series tends to get loose; we lived in that house less than four years, and my husband had to tighten it several times. Also, as the handle loosens little crumbs from your counter will collect in the crack between the handle and the dishwasher and be almost impossible to clean out.

We have the Bosch 800 series dishwasher with third rack and recessed handle. It's extremely quiet and cleans great (prob slightly better than my old KA) and the stainless stays virtually fingerprint/waterspot free. I can't remember the last time I wiped it down. There has been a learning curve with the loading, though.

Overall, we were very happy with our KA appliances and never had any performance issues with them, but those curved handles that got loose and the issues with the stainless were what drove me towards the Bosch. I feel that the quality of the Bosch stainless is much better, given the similar price points.

walnutcreek, thanks, that is helpful! I'm hoping to do the fridge and ovens in same brand so handles match (I know myself and it would drive me crazy!) but the cooktop and dishwasher could be either brand. good to know they look good together in real life, in the store I was thinking the stainless was too different it might be an issue.

brede - this is the kind of info I was hoping to hear, the smudging will possibly be a deal-breaker for us on the KA (we have small kiddos). very, very helpful. we are heading back to the store to do some "fingerprint" tests and look at that aspect, which I hadn't even thought of. bummer to hear about the handles, I really prefer those to the Bosch.

thanks so much everyone, I really appreciate GW members are such a great resource!

This is exactly why I hope to keep my 1990 Whirlpool portable quiet wash going for as long as I can. Everything today is flimsy in comparison.

farmdrmer, induction will do nothing but make your life easier. One trip to Costco and you can find a basic set of cheap cookware that will work like a champ. You'll recoup the cost in the cleaners and scrubbers that you'll no longer need. Good old child-safe vinegar and half a paper towel will clean your cooktop. Some of your current cookware will work, especially cast iron.

I second the Bosch DW. Our Bosch induction top is truly amazing. We have Elux oven with warming drawer (both wonderful) and Elux CD fridge, a total dawg. I wasn't set on matching handles and wanted a basic LG fridge, but a well meaning dealer told me the Elux was better. Well, not in my case, but YMMV.

Congrats on your new baby!

Thanks so much for all your help. Wanted to follow up with what we finally decided in case anyone comes across the thread in future and finds it helpful.

We went with Bosch 800 series for all appliances. We finally met with a store who specializes in appliances in a bigger city near here. The salesman confirmed what we suspected already - KA architect and Bosch models we were looking at are both made by whirlpool, they are same fridge minus some cosmetic things. He also let us know that this spring KitchenAid architect line will undergo a major cosmetic change. The handles are now more pro-style rounded with some texture and red on ends (we saw photos in a brochure). Since aesthetics were the main reason we preferred KA initially, but our appliances would be ordered after the style change we went with Bosch. We had many recs for Bosch over KA in dishwasher and were already doing Bosch cooktop so just went with all Bosch and are very happy. Our builder has a high end custom home and had KA dishwasher in his last house, said he would never recommend it to anyone and is returning to Bosch in his new house.

We are pricing out induction vs gas for cooktop, still undecided there. It may come down to how much it costs to get gas hooked up in our location (we will be rural). Thanks again for everyone's help!

Just came across your thread. I am currently in the same position you were in January. It's so hard to decide between all of these choices. We have been considering KA all around except for the cooktop. We have had KA dishwasher for past 16 years and it has been great. I personally like the new pro handle of KA but reliability is so much more important. So curios if you wound up with induction over gas. We have had Jenn Aire electric cooktop for 16 years. It's been great but am so curious about the new technology with induction. KA induction seems to gotten terrible reviews so we are going Bosch if we go that way. Love to hear from you.

We have had KA dishwasher for past 16 years and it has been great.

I would not base your purchase of a dishwasher in 2015 on that. I would give fair consideration to both Bosch and KA based on your findings about their current models.

KA induction seems to gotten terrible reviews so we are going Bosch if we go that way.

Good call. KA has way too many complaints about excessive noise, plus limited adjustability compared to some of the competition. I would also consider going Bosch for the oven.

Also KA DW's are not what they used to be. I've had nothing but problems with my 5 year old DW. I'm going with Miele in my new build. I do love my Bosch oven though and will be going with the Bosch induction cooktop.

Tracy207 - while induction gets rave reviews here at GW forums, we ultimately went with gas. We are comfortable cooking with it and used to it. We were already pushing our appliance budget pretty hard so we were not willing to pay the premium for induction. You will find lots of folks here who love induction though, just do a search or start new thread and I'm sure you will find someone with the models you are considering.

we are getting Bosch 800 counter depth fridge, Bosch 800 dishwasher, Bosch 500 double ovens with convection and extra roll out rack, Bosch 800 30in gas cooktop. Our build was delayed several months so I'm just getting ready to order soon actually.

So other than the gas cooktop why Bosch ultimately over KA? Was it the stainless fingerprint issue?

Have you checked out these units in person at a showroom? A lot of the choice just comes down to personal preference.

I am currently in the same dilemma, only it's just between the 30" Bosch Series 800 and the Kitchenaid range of which there is an older one, with the straight tubular handles. The thing I'm not big on with the Bosch is the 5 burners, the hottest one being in the center. I do prefer the controls on the front, I'm all about the grill top real estate and looking for at least one high powered burner. I wondered which one you ended up buying and if you were happy with your decision. I have a Bosch DW and am looking at the KA refrigerator.

We ended up with Bosch 30" 800 cooktop but we are a new build so it isn't installed yet

Thanks newtie....I'm getting ready to build and you gave such a wonderfully comprehensive view! I was leaning toward the Bosch DW but seeing the "wet dishes" negative scared me! You cleared that up for me....one appliance chosen; cooktop, oven, and microwave drawer to go.

I just had to add that I love my Bosch 800 series DW! I got the panel ready model, with the 3rd tier pull out, it is so handy. It is super quiet and cleans exceptionally well. I will second the comment about rinse aid, you really do have to use it for the dishes to dry, and one other thing I've found, I ran the first cycle on Eco, and the dishes were wet, I looked in the manual and it suggests the Auto cycle with Sanitize feature, it is a long cycle, but every thing comes out great!

Same as sweet tea here. We wash the dishes at night always on auto (not sanitize). They may not (or may) be dry when the cycle is done, but we don't unload until the morning so who knows? I prefer a non-heating element dw so you can wash anything anywhere in the machine without worrying about things melting.

The Kitchenaid Architect II oven I installed in my old house served me exceptionally well for a decade before I moved on. It cooked beautifully, was easy to use, a total joy the whole time I lived there.

I agree about the Bosch 800 dishwasher. It is a most fantastic dishwasher and so very quiet. It is hard to remember how noisy previous dishwashers have been.

This is great advise! We're just in the beginning stages of our new build, and meet with the appliance department soon. Thanks!

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. It certainly has helped me a lot.

I just had a Bosch Benchmark panel ready installed yesterday, replacing an older Bosch. The features are pretty similar to the 800 series Best Buy is selling for $1079. It gives you added inslation for a quieter operation and more flrxibility in loading with the flexible 3rd rack (sides can drop down for added depth or go flat) and folding tines in the upper and lower racks. Will take some time to learn how to best load our dishes, but that thing is really quiet.

Such great information! We are currently trying to decide between the Bosch Benchmark or the Bosch 500 series. Both have the 3rd rack, only 2 decibel difference. Is the Benchmark worth the extra $500?

I will be honest. I have no experience with either option. However the vast majority of reviews on Kitchen Aide appliances I have seen are disappointing. I passed on two Kitchen Aide ranges that were very good prices due to the reports I read on them.

The two large appliances KA seems to do best are their refrigerators and DWs. Landry machines have their ups and downs. Cooking appliances are probably their weakest link. The DWs I've been happiest with were a KA (about 15-16 years ago -- very quiet at first, but it seened to get louder) and Bosch. My least favorite DWs have all been KA or Whirlpool -- probably all builder installs.

KitchenAide like many brands are part of a conglomerate that offers relatively similar products with feature differences at significantly different price points. The conglomerates can sell the brand equity out for a 'fast buck' which unfortunately is common today with everything being so short sighted on the next Wall Street quarterly report with executive bonuses paid based on stock price.

KitchenAide mixers are one of the prominent victims of this short sightedness. My old 5qt 300 Watt mixer is ~35 years old and is much better than the newer cheaply constructed ~600Watt ~6qt models of today with their plastic gears and other trade offs.

With these conglomerate companies and brands, there are still some "sweet spots" for both price and quality. One particular good stand out was my KA Oven that exceeded all my expectations for cooking quality. It never had a problem the entire time I owned it so, what else is there to say?