Apparently NOBODY makes a good one these days, if you read the reviews on Amazon or elsewhere online. Every single brand had what I considered a high rate of negative reviews. Either there's a LOT of dehumidifiers being sold and the number of people reviewing them is biased towards those with serious problems (which is possible) or else they're all crap.
I know that I bought a (fairly expensive, cost me $200) Frigidaire unit and ended up taking it back because it wouldn't shut off. Of course, that too was made in China... I just got my money back because a) I found that the fan was supposed to run all the time, which I didn't want and b) the display unit at the store worked the same way mine did - appeared to run constantly regardless of humidity selection and wouldn't shut off when you removed the bucket. And this was the brand that seemed not to get so many negative reviews.
That's part of the reason for this thread; if I can't get a good quality dehumidifier (and others seem to be noticing that the new ones suck as well; used ones are impossible to buy on my local Craigslist. I've responded to ads within minutes of their posting, and have been told that I'm second or third in line) I might as well air condition the place. I did search and there are some higher end light industrial dehumidifiers but their cost is on the same order of magnitude as an A/C system and I don't really have any assurance other than price and gut feeling that they'd be better than the consumer models.
nate