I bought a Maytag Bravos topload washer and steam dryer several years ago. I regret the extra money I spent to get the TOL dryer, I've only used the steam feature twice. I use the water heater feature on the washer all the time, getting the TOL washer was a good decision. I dry most clothing for 2-3 minutes on low heat, then hang items on a nearby rack to air dry. No ironing ever and saves energy, too.

I'd go with the Kenmore, but upgrade to built-in heater. We just bought one to replace our old LG front loader, which died a horrible "tub seal death" but which had performed admirably for 7+ years. We loved that washer, and I really felt it would be difficult at best to replace it. It was a champ, washing delicates and dog beds, sanitizing stuff in our household when we had 2 cancer patients in residence, cleaning things that had to be hand washed. It did all of this well -- and significantly reduced our water and utility bills. The only time we had "mold issues" was when I used Costco detergent. Enter the kenmore 29272. I'm in love. The only downside I've found to this washer, for me (a short person) is that it can sometimes be difficult to get that stray sock that ends up at the far side of the tub. But for our needs, this washer is just about perfect, or as close as we were going to get with current options. It doesn't vibrate our house, it can handle GIANT loads of towels, clothes, dog beds, rugs...and it's done really well with hand wash delicates as well. It's quiet and mostly very intuitive. I'd highly recommend you consider upgrading your choices to this one. We found ours on sale at Sears (see my earlier posts) for not much more than the link you provided lists for the Kenmore without the heater. And they threw in free delivery. You'll notice, too, that the upgraded Kenmore gets much better reviews than the one without the heater. Here is a link that might be useful: Kenmore with built in heater

Your best bet is to pick the models that interest you an look up the specs on them. You'll need to do some math. Find out how many gallons it takes, factor in whether you do extra rinses (some FL users use up to 5 rinses or more) and that will certainly impact the water use and not be included in the energy site estimates. Once you've figured out the number of gallons you'll use per load multiply that by your cost per gallon of water. Cabrio/Oasis/Bravos are all the same basic design. There's people with Oasis and Cabrio who have not had any problems and there's people with Bravos who have had trouble. Every machine has it's problems. Even the "mighty" Miele has a number of people who have reported problems here. Keep in mind many times pilot error is a big factor in troubles. HE toploads are more sensitive to loading it seems than other types. Once you get used to it you shouldn't have the troubles. However if you go from a conventional washer to a HE machine, FL or TL there's a learning curve. Some people don't want to learn the "new" system. There's also other HE toploaders besides the Cabrio/Oasis/Bravos models. GE Harmony gets good reviews from most users. Of course, there's again, always going to be someone unhappy.

Thanks everyone for their input. In the end we weren't happy with either choice. I decided to reconsider something I'd ruled out from the beginning, namely LG front-loaders. I had nixed them because of our experience with LG mobile phones. But user reviews of the washers at retail sites are overwhelmingly positive, and they also came out well in Consumer Reports, and in a J.D. Power survey that someone linked to. So today we ordered a WM2455 from Sears, with delivery scheduled in a couple of weeks.