Miele PowerDisk Dish Detergent for Auto Dispensing Dishwashers, 6-Pack

Why it's worth it

The PowerDisk is Miele's detergent cartridge for AutoDos dishwashers, which meter out powder automatically based on the cycle you pick. You load one disc, close the drawer and forget about detergent for weeks instead of dropping a pod in every night.

Here's the appeal: you stop thinking about detergent. The machine measures what each cycle needs from the disc, so a light load gets less and a pots-and-pans cycle gets more. If you've ever dropped a pod into a half-full dishwasher and then found residue on the glasses, you've seen the problem that automatic dosing is meant to solve.

It only makes sense if you already own the right machine. AutoDos is a Miele feature, and the disc fits the drawer built for it. On any other dishwasher there's nowhere to put it. That's the whole buying decision here, and it's worth stating plainly before you add one to a cart.

From our review of 5 dishwashers, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +Here's the appeal: you stop thinking about detergent
• +It only makes sense if you already own the right machine
• +Miele also builds its dishwashers for an unusually long life — the company designs them for roughly 20 years of use, a claim…

What to know

• –You're locked in. A disc only works in an AutoDos machine, which means you're buying detergent from one manufacturer for as long…
• –And it does nothing about the hardest part of running a dishwasher, which is drying