Hotpoint FDM550P
The hotpoint FDM550P is a free standing dishwasher, readily available in the UK. The product is easy to use, I’ve found it has top cleaning performance, good durability and only a few minor problems. I purchased my FDM550 from Comet for the price of £249.99 and consider it a very good investment.
Appearance
The dishwasher is freestanding and plain white in colour. I would maybe like to see dark silver or black coloured versions which would look slightly more modern, but the product is fairly bland and inconspicuous. The dimensions of my dishwasher are 85x60x60cm which in my opinion is average size for a dishwasher. The door is positioned at the front, this opens downwards to reveal the silver chrome interior which has 2 white coloured racks for plates, mugs, cups, glasses and so forth which are big in size so you can fit a fair number of things on them. it has a moveable cutlery rack for storing forks, knives, spoons and other small utensils. There is a single black company logo to the top of the front panel which reads “Hotpoint” in black font. There is an on/off button to the far right, a plastic dial and on the far left is a pause button with 3 accompanying LED lights. There is a slot for tablets which is what I use on my product and you can also use detergent if you wish. The element inside is concealed which is safer than having it exposed, there is also a water pipe which can be connected to a cold or hot water tap and a waste tube to take away dirty water, all of which are positioned at the back of the dishwasher.
Features
The FDM550P has a number of features, in terms of wash settings there are options for superwash, prewash, fast wash, eco wash and normal wash settings which are set by moving the dial to the right setting, all of which are clearly marked in black font. The quick fast wash setting takes about 30-35 minutes but still offers a good cleaning quality even though it’s quicker than the other settings. You can if you want add water softener inside the machine if you live in hard water areas although this doesn’t apply to me. You are also advised by Hotpoint to add salt to each wash cycle which is supposed to remove limescale. The racks and small cutlery basket can be adjusted into different positions and are not fixed permanently in anyway. There are 3 helpful LED lights on the far left which flash “Wash”, “Dry” or “End” allowing you to monitor the progress of each wash.
Durability
The durability of the product has been superb, I’ve had my FDM550P for just over a year now and it has not needed any repairs in that time. The product is quite light in weight actually but it still feels solidly built, the door has not loosened over time, the buttons all still work, the connector and waste pipes have not leaked and the cleaning performance has remained superb. The product was advertised as having an A rating for cleaning performance and an A for drying performance which I can definitely agree with, superb performance from a very durable and well made machine.
Energy Efficiency
My FDM550P is cheap to run and I’ve made savings from my older dishwasher. The product has an A rating for energy efficiency and was advertised as using just 16 litres of water per wash. In terms of energy consumption in kW this comes out as 1.05kW which is brilliant considering the brilliant cleaning quality you get on your dishes and utensils.
Noise
The product is very quiet, I was cautious of it being very loud and droning but this was not the case. In operation on all wash settings the device is very quiet which I was very impressed by.
Pricing
I purchased the product from Comet which sold it for £249.99, this included free delivery as well. Considering the top workmanship and durability of the product, coupled with low noise, top energy efficiency and an outstanding cleaning performance, £249.99 is very good value in my opinion. Currently at the time of writing this review, a number of UK retailers sell the FDM500P; Boots sell the FDM550P for £248, Sainsburys at £254.99 and Amazon UK market place at £300+. It’s another bonus that the dishwasher is so easily available in the UK, you can hunt around for the cheapest price.
Drawbacks
I’ve never experienced any problems really with my FDM550P but I did notice a few minor ones. In my opinion the cutlery basket is too small and should have been made larger. On the racks, I find it a bit awkward to place wine glasses, large pint glasses and other tall glasses into the racks. Perhaps Hotpoint in future could add special slots which are just for these types of glasses. The pause and start options are on the same button which I think is a bit of a design error to be honest, Hotpoint would have been better making two buttons, not just one. My final complaint is that there are no options for a delayed start or delicate wash for any important and brittle utensils.
Conclusion
To conclude, the FDM550P is a top dishwasher in my opinion. It has triple AAA grades in cleaning, drying and energy efficiency performance, a simple and easy to use interface, great durability, a low noise when in operation, two racks with a cutlery basket which are readily moveable around the dishwasher and a door which opens downwards very easily. You can use tablets from the slot inside which I personally do and also detergent, you can add water softener for hard water locations too. I only have minor complaints towards my FDM550P including a small cutlery basket, awkward fitting racks for wine/tall glasses and maybe a delayed start would have been nice with a timer you can set to countdown to the time you want it to start the wash. All in all, my utensils and cutlery come out to outstanding quality at very good energy consumption rates and the dishwasher is of superb build quality and durability. All in all, a superb dishwasher that I highly recommend. Thanks for reading my review.
© Revo9 (2011)
*Note, I am both a member of Ciao and Dooyoo.co.uk under the same username of Revo9*
A brilliant dishwasher from Hotpoint! 
