Snappers do not have the floating deck that the simplicity line does and the floating deck was the primary reason I wanted the Simplicity. The dealer I took delivery from also had Massey's but they were larger models. When I called the dealers on the simplicity site, all had switched to Snapper. I sent an e-mail to simplicity for help and they replied with an e-mail that I should try different zip codes in my area. I wrote back that it would be easier to input a larger search radius and that they should update their web site. They did not respond and have not updated their web site as of this posting. A friend who is a large user of Simplicity and Massey helped me locate a dealer.

Speaking from my personal experience - it pays off to be careful and read what other people think regarding the appliance you wish to purchase. We wanted an open burner range and bought a premium BlueStar six-burner. When I turned on the oven there was a strong smell of unburned gas since day one. After I complained about this the factory phoned and told me to adjust the air-gas ratio. I decided not to touch anything. The flames were okay. I just didn't want to insert myself into the repair process. The problem got progressively worse and one day the range had caught fire while I was cooking and I had to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher. First BlueStar wanted to dispatch a local technician who would repair the range in our kitchen. I refused, on the grounds that the problem was pretty serious and the factory should take the range back and find out the cause of the fire. They said that this kind of a problem has never happened before. They offered to replace the range, which was still under warranty. But we discovered that there were numerous complaints about BlueStar ranges leaking gas and some customers have indeed experienced fires as well, contrary to what the factory had claimed. Someone else had an ongoing problem that never got properly fixed, and when the warranty expired he was basically told that his warranty had, well, expired. From reading about those complaints and realizing that what BlueStar told us ("This kind of a problem has never happened before.") actually wasn't true, my wife thought it would be foolish to accept a replacement. What if the same problem appeared again? Could we trust the quality of their products, as well as their word? We thought that the best and most simple solution would be to get a refund. They wouldn't have to build a replacement unit and we would be free to purchase something else. But BlueStar flatly refused. Finally, under duress and with no other option to speak of we decided to take a gamble and take them up on their offer. Finally, some two months after the initial fire in our kitchen the replacement unit had finally arrived. We went to the showroom and realized that what BlueStar had sent us had a different color from what we ordered. At this point we were fed up with their attitude and decided that we would find our own solution to this. We ordered a different range, a Culinarian by Capital. The dealer had agreed to put the newly arrived replacement piece up for sale in their showroom, so that we could get our money back that way. When the new range by Capital arrived, we removed our original BlueStar, the one which had caught fire from our kitchen and replaced it with Culinarian. The old BlueStar, which I called Godzilla was taken to our dealer, where I thought it would be picked up by BlueStar for a transport to the factory, so that they could find out what the cause of the fire was. But it never happened. BlueStar wasn't interested in doing anything else. The range was sitting in the showroom for a while and ultimately was scrapped by the dealer. This told us something about the manufacturer. I decided to share my experience with other people, figuring that some potential buyers might be interested. I posted the story on Chowhound, where my post was removed the next day. I posted it again, just to have it removed again. I also posted the story on GardenWeb, where it inspired over 85 replies. Prominent among those was one particular person who also posts here, who immediately launched attack directed at the post and my person. Among other things, he blamed me for not following the repair instructions by the factory (adjusting the air-gas ratio) and so on. This generated more exchanges and finally the post was declared disruptive by GW staff and removed. Later there were some new developments and I posted Part Two of my original post. Again, I was attacked by the same person, called names and accused of having a nefarious agenda. I tried to support my case with pictures, but was accused of manipulating the scene through fiddling with distance, angles and the flash settings, although no flash had been used. All this resulted in having my post removed a second time, which was probably the goal of this other person all along. Newsflash! Mojavean, another senior member here was booted from this forum by GW staff for having the audacity to come to my defense. His was the welcome voice of reason and now he's gone. This is inexcusable! Anybody interested in more details can follow the story on wwww.iwvnews.com in Appliance Talk. So, as for purchasing any appliance, do your homework. Don't believe everything you read or hear, but if there are enough people complaining about something, they probably have a reason. Check from various sources and think before you jump. We wanted open burners and have no problem with our Culinarian so far. It is a refreshing change, after what we had with BlueStar by Marcus.

OK, I have an issue that does not allow me to purchase without over researching a product. So I did consider a few brands. I really like Miele, and they do have a larger unit. Nothing like the size of these, but I don't think you need something as big as these Samsung units to wash a comforter. Although I keep going back to Miele, the issue of their warranty and the lack of local people to sell and service the units takes them out of the running. I did look into Asko, but the small size and the bad reviews (over many years) makes them just an interesting read. I had a hard time deciding between LG and Samsung. I chose Samsung because of their Diamond drum technology. Although I was unable to find out much about it, it was similar to the honeycomb drum idea of Miele. That really closed the deal for me. I really felt that more manufacturers should have put more into their drum designs and make that information available. Sadly, only two lines have taken drum technology seriously and serious enough to flaunt it to the public. I ended up with the largest Samsung units because of the steam and the internet connectivity. (And frankly the deal I got.) I was hoping that if there was a problem, Samsung could just hook into the machine and tell me what is wrong. I'm not sure they can do that, but they can certainly update the units over the wireless. I would say that I was also impressed with the anti vibration technology. I wish they had explained the difference between the regular antivibration and the upgraded antivibration of these units. I imagine it is some computer sensing thing. I was also impressed with the warranty on the motors and the 2 year warranty. Oh, I just registered my units and got an additional 3 months warranty for registering. Thanks Samsung. I would add an extra year on my own by purchasing with Amex and eliminating the purchase of extended warranty. I looked into Speed Queen because they are American. Solid units but lack the modern technology and efficiency I was looking for. Rough sturdy brutes was all I could imagine from what I could find out about these products. I think the companies do themselves a disservice by not putting out all the information they can on their products. This is one case and point. I went as far as looking into purchasing commercial units, but when all is said and done, I felt that the Samsung units were a better deal. Service and warranty work is much different for commercial than on consumer models. Here is a really cool washing machine I found that I really wanted to get. I have a friend in CA who used to own Laundry Mats. He said, "That's a commercial unit. What do you need a commercial unit for?" Well, it looks so cool and is so well engineered etc. It was too much of a machine for my needs, but I really would have loved to have one. The Crossover Washer. (http://www.laundrylux.com/crossover.html) The world's first small chassis washer engineered to commercial laundry standards for your business needs. I think for the person who wants to have what no one else has, these units would be an interesting choice. Here is some more information on the Crossover: 3 Engineered to be superior to all competitors 3 15,000 cycle machine life design 3 3 OPL liquid chemical injection ports and signals 3 3 compartment soap drawer 3 4 professional wash programs + 2 cycle options 3 Field adjustable water levels 3 Top quality SKF bearings in heavy duty assembly 3 3 seals with 5 lips 3 Professional grade 8-point suspension 3 Pump-drain standard 3 Solid steel counter-weights�no concrete 3 Energy Star compliant The costs were about 2,000 a piece or less from what I remember. Stunningly beautiful beasts these are. They are made I believe by LaundryLux. I also looked at Miele Little Giants. Just amazing little laundry units, but way out of my price range for what I want to spend. I think these are made for people with yachts. These are also stunningly beautiful. The bottom line is I spent months looking at units. For me, with the space that I had and the money I wanted to spend, I settled on the Samsung. I had to use my Samsung units again tonight as the baby had an "out of diaper" experience. Not something for the faint of heart. Loved I could go and select sanitize on the computer screen and choose extra rinses and steams and prewashes and super hots etc. If they had nuclear radiation I would have chosen that too, but as of now, it is not an option on my units. I got a 3 hour cycle and trust me that is exactly what the job called for. I think I'm very happy right now with what I purchased. Look, as long as the darn units stay working without needing service etc, anything you buy will be fine. Again, I'm not happy about having to stand on a stool to see the dryer screens, but it really is not a big problem. The anti vibration on these really works great and the noise level is very good. The calming music the machines play to signal the end of the cycle is still OK with me and I'm not ready to beat the machine to death if it plays that tune one more time. Just if anyone wants to see how these machines do on a soiled white one piece baby garment, here is how it just came out of the washer. I don't think I can believe how clean and white this is. You cannot see where the mess was. I have had experience in the past with my other machine where the white clothing was stained yellow after such an incident. All I used was about 1/4 of the recommended amount of ECOS plus natural liquid from Sam's and a tiny amount of delft liquid softener. No bleach. I did hit it with some Oxy prewash spray before putting it in. Look, I have a laundry upstairs that I am doing. I decided to make it a "sound proof" room because of my experience with my old front loader. It was loud! Probably had gotten worse over the years because the bearings were going. So I double sheet rocked with green glue and put heavy clay on the backs of the electrical boxes. I put in a sound proof floor which I am waiting to tile right now. Well, I did all this because of my fear of the noise I would get from the front load machines. I think had I placed these Samsung units upstairs, the sound proofing would have been overkill. I'm hoping the GE unit I have for upstairs will be as quiet. I bet most of the better machines will be quiet. I think that the other companies caught up with Meile and have incorporated many of the concepts and bring these machines at a value price. Will they last the 20 years Miele says theirs will? I don't know, but these machines have a longer warranty then Miele and they can be found everywhere. This means that your chance of getting service should be good.

Adware: Computer script, code, or program which delivers banners or other types of advertising to a users computer. Delivery of the adware is often accomplished when program developers include the script, code or program as part of an application, and can also be contained within cookies received from some websites. Adware should not be confused with the free program "Ad-Aware" from Lavasoft, which can detect and remove adware and many other types of intrusions. AntiVirus: A software program which helps protect a computer against being infected by a virus. BIOS Basic Input/Output System is the program which runs when you start your computer, and which communicates between the devices in your computer. The system BIOS is normally stored in an EPROM chip (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) located on the motherboard. Browser: A software program used for viewing Internet websites. Popular programs include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Opera, Firefox and Netscape Navigator. Cache: A place to store something (more or less) temporarily. Web pages youve visited are stored in your browsers "cache" directory on your hard drive. ISPs (Internet Service Providers) sometimes cache web pages, which speeds up access times for users since the page is being read from cache memory and not downloaded from the actual web site. Web browsers usually have an option to let you adjust the size of your browser cache file. CD: Compact Disc. Most often used for music and photo formats, but also used to store other types of data. See below. CD Burner: A CD drive that is capable of writing data to a CD (Compact Disc). The process if often referred to as "burning". A small laser is used and the process does generate a small amount of heat, hence the term. CD-R (Read Only). Once data is burned to a CD-R, the CD cannot be over-written with new data. CD-RW (Read and Write). Can be used repeatedly. Data may be erased and re-written, much like the older floppy disks. Client: A software program that is used to obtain data from a software program on another computer. For example, Internet Explorer, Nestcape and Firefox are a type of Client. Codec: Video and Audio. Short for compressor/decompressor, a codec is a program used for compressing and decompressing data. Codecs can be used in software, hardware, or a combination of both. Some popular codecs for computer video include MPEG, Indeo and Cinepak. It is normal to have multiple Codecs for audio and video installed on your computer. Cookies: Cookies are small text files that Web sites place in the browser cache, so it can recall specific information. Typically passwords and user IDs are stored. They are also used to recall preferences for page content or personalized pages. Cookies can also be used to build a profile of which sites you visit and which banner ads you click, if any. Advertisers use this information to deliver targeted ads. Some sites use temporary cookies (called session cookies) that are deleted when you exit your browser. Others place persistent cookies which remain on your hard drive until you delete them. Cookies are not generally considered to be Spyware unless malicious or intentionally intrusive. Please refer to the definition of Spyware. Copy: A secondary representation of an original. If you copy a file or a folder, the original is not usually erased. CPU: Central Processing Unit. The main processing chip of a computer which plugs into the motherboard. Its speed is expressed in Megahertz or Gigahertz. For example, older computers may have CPUs that are rated at 300-600 Megahertz, which is considered slow by todays standards. Current CPUs are generally 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 Gigahertz or better. Many people refer to the entire computer case or tower as a CPU, which in broad terms, is acceptable. Desktop: The operating system user interface, which is designed to represent an office desk with objects on it. Rather than physical telephones, lamps, in/out baskets, etc., the operating system desktop uses program and data icons, windows, taskbars, and the like. Basically, it is the screen you see after your computer completely finishes "booting" or starting up. Desktop Icon(s): Generally, desktop icons are shortcuts. A shortcut is a "pointer" to a file. Creating a shortcut allows you to quickly access a program or document no matter where it is stored. For example: you might create a document using Microsoft Word and then store the document in a folder called C:\My Documents\ My Memoirs. Instead of having to search through your hard drive and folders to find the file each time you want to work on it, you can place a shortcut to the file on your Desktop. When you wish to work on the document, you simply click on the shortcut to open the file. Remember, a shortcut is simply a pointer. Deleting a shortcut will not remove the original document or file from the computer. However, some Icons on the desktop are programs and while Not recommended, some people use the desktop as a place to store files, programs, and downloads. To determine if a desktop icon is a shortcut or an actual program file, use the mouse to right-click the icon and then select "properties". If the icon is a shortcut, a shortcut tab will be visible. DVD: Digital Video Disk. Used to store Digital Videos such as Movies etc. However, new technology is allowing DVDs to be used for other things, such as storing data, music, etc. If it seems confusing, that is because it IS confusing. Manufacturers are still trying to agree on standard formats. Current DVD formats include: DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-ROM. Perform a search using a search engine on the Internet, with the words "DVD Formats". You will find many sites further describing the technology. Download: To transfer data from a remote computer to your computer. Driver: A "driver" is simply a file (software) which contains instructions to control a hardware component or peripheral device of a computer, such as a modem, disk drive or printer. If you do not have the current device driver for a specific device, the device may not function properly. Very often, drivers..or updated drivers...can be found on a manufacturer's homesite for a particular device. Just as often, updated drivers are not listed because they do not need to be updated...or the manufacturer has not issued any updates. It is a good idea, when installing a purchased device such as a CD or DVD drive, to visit the manufacturers' website and check for updated drivers for the specific device. Error Message: An error message is a warning which is displayed whenever an error occurs during the operation of the program. A record of the type of error, its location, and its cause, is normally stored in an error log. Very often, the error log can be found within the programs folder, and can be viewed if opened with Notepad. Fatal Error Message: A system or application (program) error which stops or locks-up the computer and will normally be resolved by restarting the computer. Ordinarily, there is no permanent damage to the computer itself. A fatal error indicates a major problem with an application or program. A fatal error can also be generated due to some hardware problems. HDD: Hard Disk Drive. See next definition. Hard Drive: (Hard Disk Drive or HDD) The main device a computer uses to permanently store and retrieve information. Drives are sealed units typically found inside the computer. They may contain one or more disks within, depending upon the size of the drive. However, no matter how many disks the drive contains, the unit itself is considered to be one hard drive. To add a Hard Drive, one would install an additional unit. Older consumer hard drives started out small -for example 250 Megabytes- and were limited for a number of years, to approximately 2 Gigabytes in size. This was due to various technical issues. In recent years, the 2 Gig limitation has been eliminated, and drives of 80 Gigabytes or more are now common and affordable. Hardware: The physical and mechanical devices that make up a computer system, to include the CPU, motherboard, hard drive, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. IDE: Integrated Drive Electronics. A Hard disk drive with built-in electronics necessary for use on a computer. It includes on-board diagnostics. IDE also refers to the interface to which disk drives connect. Install: Adding a program to your computer which usually involves running an installation application for the desired program. For example, an installation file for the program "Irfanview" is named iview350.exe The 350 represents the version of Irfanview the installation file will install. The prior version of the program was iview325.exe ISP: Internet Service Provider. An ISP is a company that provides access to the Internet. For example: Verizon, Comcast, Cebridge, Direcway, MSN. ISP's provide dial-up, Cable, DSL, and Satellite service. Malware "Malware" is short for 'malicious software' and is usually used as a catch-all term to refer to any software which causes damage to a single computer, server, or computer network. Memory: Also referred to as RAM, or Random Access Memory. Enables a computer to store, at least temporarily, data and programs. The more memory you have, the more programs you can have running simultaneously and the more data can be held for faster access by your machine. Memory does not "remember" your data. Memory is dynamic, so when the computer is switched off whatever programs or data that were in memory disappear. You must save your data to a storage device such as a hard drive or removeable disk, if you wish to keep it after the computer is turned off. Hard drive storage space is NOT memory. Menu Bar: A menu bar is usually a horizontal assembly of words or icons you click on to open a menu or perform a function. They can be located at the top or your computers screen, the top of your browsers window, or at the top of a webpage. Motherboard: The main circuit board inside a computer, containing the central processing unit, the bus, memory sockets, expansion slots etc. Peripheral(s) A piece of equipment (mouse, printer, scanner, etc) attached to a computer to perform tasks that a computer cannot do itself. RAM: Random Access Memory: The most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on. An integrated circuit memory chip allows information to be stored or accessed in any order and all storage locations within are equally accessible. RAM Types: Basically, there are two types: Dynamic RAM (DRAM) and Static RAM (SRAM). Dynamic RAM (or DRAM) is used for main system memory. SRAM: Used for Level 2 Cache. It is used as a computer's secondary (or L2) cache, which is a holding area for data outside the processor. It is not integrated into the processor as primary cache, so it is expandable. SDRAM: (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) is a newer type of DRAM that can run at much higher clock speeds than conventional memory. SDRAM synchronizes itself with the CPU's bus and is capable of running at 100 MHz. SIMM and DIMM: SIMM stands for Single In-line Memory Module DIMM stands for Dual In-line Memory Module. SIMM and DIMM simply refers to the way the memory is packaged (the physical appearance of the memory). SIMMs must be installed in pairs. For example, if you have eight RAM slots on your motherboard, you have to add SIMMs two at a time. You couldn't install seven SIMMs and leave one slot empty. DIMMs can be installed one at a time. Ram modules have contacts on them. They are gold or tin (a dull silver color). If you use one type, you should not mix them with the other type. There is parity and non-parity RAM. You can tell if your RAM has parity checking by counting the number of chips on the 'stick'. If the count is odd, you have parity checking. You cannot mix parity RAM with non-parity RAM. When handling RAM, it is important to keep the contacts clean, and not touch the contacts with fingers etc. Registry: A Windows database that holds configuration information. In simple terms, when you start your computer, the BIOS gives it an identiy by describing the devices it has available. The Operating System, or "OS" ( Win95, 98, ME, XP etc.,) then starts to "load", and it's configuration is defined by entries in it's registry. Software (programs) installed on the computer almost always enter values to the registry. Doing this allows the OS to knit everything together for a smooth running system. Therefore, it is important to properly "install" and "un-install" software (programs). Since the Registry is a critical database, it is usually ill-advised to make changes in it manually, unless the user is experienced in doing so. Ribbon Cable: IDE devices use a ribbon cable to connect to each other. Ribbon cables have all of the wires laid flat next to each other instead of bunched or wrapped together in a bundle. IDE ribbon cables have either 40 or 80 wires. There is a connector at each end of the cable and another one about two-thirds of the distance from the motherboard connector. Safe Mode: Safe mode is primarily used to troubleshoot problems with Windows by only running the bare essentials of the Windows operating systems and device drivers. Once entering safe mode, the user can execute commands and load devices one at a time. For example, if your Win98 computer "hangs" while booting, you can start in "safe mode" and load device drivers one at time to locate the problem. Safe Mode is also used to remove or delete files which are otherwise "locked" or "in use" during normal operation. Additionally, a "system restore" can be performed in safe mode which allows the user to restore their system to previously recorded settings. For most Windows computers, Safe Mode may be entered by continuously tapping the F-8 key as the computer "boots" or starts. Software: A program of detailed instructions which enable computer hardware to function. Spyware: Installs and gathers information from a computer without permission, and reports the information to the creator of the software or to one or more third parties. It provides the consumer with little or no control over removing the software. Spyware can change system settings, install keystroke loggers, collect and report consumer's personal information, use computer processing capacity without permission, and deliver spam or ads without consumer's notice and consent. Taskbar: At the bottom of the Windows screen, it contains the Start button, icons for open applications, the Quick Launch area, and the Tray or notification area. Trojan: A program that is installed without your knowledge and carries a destructive payload. Once your computer becomes infected by the worm or virus, it can be very difficult to repair the damage. Trojans usually come attached to another file, for example: .avi, .exe, or even .jpg. Many people do not notice or see file extensions, so what may appear as "fun program.zip" in reality could be "fun program.zip.exe." The difference here is the added .exe extension. Once the file is opened, the Trojan quietly installs itself. Title Bar: The band across the top of a window containing the title of the application in the window. Toolbar: A row, column, or block of onscreen buttons or icons that, when clicked, activate certain functions of the program. Ordinarily found across the top border of a program window. Tower: Vertical case for a personal computer often placed on the floor next to or under a desk. Uninstall: To properly and completely remove a program from the computer. This is usually done via the programs' own uninstall utility, or by using Add/Remove in Control Panel. Update: A new release (or version) of a piece of software that is generally understood to be an error correction release and does not contain new functionality. (as opposed to Upgrade) Updates are usually numbered by a change in the digit after the decimal. eg: V1.1 to V1.2 Upgrade: The process of installing a newer and more powerful version of a software package or hardware. It can also be a new and more powerful version of an existing system. Virus: A program capable of causing harm to files or other programs on a computer. A virus usually duplicates itself and may even change its name to avoid detection. Viruses arrive in a number of different ways, the most common of which are via attachments to E-mail. Windows Explorer: (Explore.exe) A file manager you can use to view and manage drives, folders, and files.