I bought the top of line Fisher and Paykel washer and dryer in 2008 and have been very disappointed. Have had several repair call on each appliance. Contacted F & P CO in March and talked to one of their representatives who promised they would call back in 3 to 4 days to let me know when he would be in my area to stop by and see the problems I was having. Still haven't heard back from him. Washer you can not wash in hot water. It starts out with hot but the company told me that is only for few gallons of water. The dryer - now I have to remove the filter by unscrewing it and removing the lint that stays in that area and does not go into the part that has the sensor on it. I got these instruction from the service person when he came to service it when it wasn't drying my clothes. I spent around $1500 for the pair. I won't try and sell them as I wouldn't feel right passing these problems on to someone else. My advice don't buy Fisher and Paykel appliances.

Arkangels, I will second (and third and fourth) everything said here. If possible, take the small step up to the Intuitive Eco washer and Intuitive top load dryer. The cost is only a little more, and the machines rock. I've had mine over a year and-a-half now and they are easily the best washer and dryer I've ever had; front load, top load, or whatever. For the most part the Intuitive can be run "set n' forget" and will clean better than you can imagine, BUT it has enough flexibility that you an modify just about every aspect of the wash sequence (which cannot be done with the EcoSmart model). Want a full, deep hot wash? No problem. Many pre-set Life Cycles to choose from for custom washes (muddy, swim wear, stains, etc.) And the dryer? Wow. Not sure I could go back to scraping lint screens again (I just empty the lint buck once a week as part of trash collection). I love the auto-reversing feature that lets me load it up and never get tangles, and the 24-hour anti wrinkle (periodic tumble) feature is better than any dryer I've seen. Most seem to allow only an hour or two before they stop.

tinatark said: You can't set a specialty wash to start later. - and - About the dryer, I think the reverse-tumble system should have a time out feature - I've left the house with stuff drying on the wrinkle free cycle - not realizing it - come home hours later and it was still tumbling! The washer's menu doesn't allow scrolling to a Lifecycle, pressing Select, then scrolling the menu back to the Delay Start option? You mean the Wrinkle Free function, not reverse tumble. Reverse tumble occurs every 4.5 minutes throughout the drying cycle, and is not directly related to the Wrinkle Free option. The Wrinkle Free function does time-out after approx 24 hrs. You do understand what the Wrinkle Free option is for, yes? It comes into play at the end of the drying cycle, when the machine would otherwise be done and shut off. If the Wrinkle Free option is enabled, the clothes will be tumbled without heat for about 30 seconds every five minutes to prevent wrinkles that would otherwise occur if the dry clothes were left crumpled and stationary in the drum for an extended period. The end-of-cycle signal beeps after each tumble, reminding the user that the load is actually done and ready to come out. Since you're out of the house and unable to unload, Wrinkle Free is doing exactly what it's supposed to do -- tumbling the clothes periodically until you return so they don't get wrinkled. Most dryers with this feature have it run a maximum of 40 mins to 2.5 hrs, depending on the brand and model. Running it for 24 hrs is one of F&P's unique features for clothes care and convenience of the user. Wrinkle Free is enabled by default on several cycles (Easy Iron, Delicate, Sheets, Shirts), but can be turned off before Starting .. or added to any cycle that doesn't include it by default.

For the washer, no, as long as you have a good quality surge surpresser on it to protect the electronics. Having an in-house handyman who can handle the mechanics of a simple repair can also be a consideration. Parts for the washer aren't overly expensive from an online source if one can DIY to eliminate service-tech labor costs. For the dryer, possibly, it's more mechanically complex.