1. Yes. Two years with excellent results and zero problems.
2. Yes.
3. No. My installation on linoleum over concrete slab. Many reports of vibration from various machines on suspended floors, however. Don't know what to tell you about your particular location.
4. "Sanitary" cycle is longest at around two hours and temp around 155F. I usually choose "whitest whites" which is 1 hour, 127F, and extra rinse selected. "Normal" cycle with extra rinse more like 45 minutes and on-board heater not engaged.
5. I am at remote location and can't see machine or manual right now. In any event, if it does I've never used.
6. Yes. But there are limits for each cycle. Cannot select randomly.
7. At first, I thought I'd like to be able to have more choices for temperature and water-level selection. In-use, I've learned not to worry about it. Just read the manual and did what it said and have always gotten superb results. I would like to be able to open the door whenever I want. However, with the higher-temp cycles, access is denied unless entire cycle is cancelled and you start over. I've learned to live with it. At this point, I regard as non-issue.

Be aware that these low-volume-fill HE machines may NOT provide the hot/warm/cold temps the dial says you're getting. The mass of the clothes and drum will take a LOT of heat out the incoming water. For example, my machine is very close to my hot water tank. However, even with 130F water flowing in from the first drop, my actual wash temperature with a full load when set on "hot" is between 100-105F unless I select a cycle that engages the on-board heater. This shortcoming exists with ALL low-volume-fill machines and is not pubicized nor mentioned in the manuals.

Overall, I am very pleased. If shopping today, I would buy again.

Hi Jo,
I considered the same ones you are considering and ended up deciding to try the Whirlpool Duet HT 9400.
We live in an extreme rural area. My main worries are concerning service and wanting something as trouble free as possible, but I needed a washer with a heater for the sanitary cycle. I needed a gas dryer also. We use propane so I ordered my gas dryer and told them I needed an LP dryer. I ordered from Lowe's as they gave me the better deal on delivery where we live and they seemed to want me as a customer more than Home Depot (I posted a thread earlier,finally decided which to get). The machines were delivered yesterday. I had asked when I ordered them that they leave the shipping bolts in until the machines were in the house(as I had read to do so here), and was assured that they knew that. The machines were not in the boxes ad they had installed them on the pedestals already before hauling them. I have no idea if they left the shipping bolts in or not. They were covered with dust, but not visibly damaged. They handed me a box with the LP conversion kit in it. No one told me that this would not be done by Whirlpool at the factory(they had to order my gas dryer directly from Whirlpool). Changing out the natural gas orfice to an LP gas one was not a simple procedure on this particular dryer. I fully expected to hook the dryer up to the gas connection myself as they told me when I ordered it that they wouldn't hook up a gas dryer... but that would have been easy. Converting the dryer to LP however was not. The entire front panel had to be removed from the dryer and it was not easily accessible. It was difficult enough we felt no one other than an authorized service repairman should be doing it. We worried about it so I called Lowe's. They assured me if the dryer did not work after the LP conversion was done, they would deliver another free of charge. We felt relieved anyway while the thing was being taken apart:) Needless to say, the installers were not able to really level my machines perfectly as this LP conversion had to be done, and the machines had to be moved about for that.
My washer is on a concrete slab with ceramic tile. The washer is extremely picky about levelness. The bubble on the level was in the marks, just slightly over to the left...it would not even be 1/4 turn on the foot, but this washer shimmied on the high and extra high spin. You could not make the machine rock by pushing on it and it didn't do shimmy unless it had clothes in it. It was very noticeable at the very first part of the spin cycle as it was "taking off". A side to side knocking type shimmy. I adjusted the right front leg just ever so slightly, then locked the locking nut. It doesn't do the shimmy now. It does kind of sound like a jet plane on that extra high speed spin, not extremely loud, but has that type of engine sound as it slows to a stop. While washing it is very quiet and while rinsing, to me, it kind of sounds like a pot of water on the stove boiling. It has very different sounds than my old top loader had but my top loader was definately the louder machine.
My impression is the washer is quiet most of the time and does a good job. The dryer dries very quickly. I get all of my laundry done quickly even with the sanitary cycle being so long because I can do so much at a time.
As for being so touchy about levelness, I'm just guessing as this is my first FL, but I would think all the Fl's with these high speed spins would be that way.
If I have any problems with the washer or dryer I will post them but so far I've done the sanitary cycle, a whitest whites cycle, a normal/casual and a bulky item (king size coverlett)cycle. I can't tell you if this machine is better than any other FL, or how it will be long term, but maybe this info will help you decide on yours.
Dee

IMHO levelling is desirable but not as important as equal weighting of the feet. Equal weighting is somewhat more difficult than levellling because there's no easy, cheap instrument to utilize to measure it. Approximation is all most people have to go with. However, done carefully it makes a terrific difference.

Hi asolo,
What do you mean by weighting the feet? I have stuff in the storage pedestals but figured that shouldn't cause a problem as they were designed for storage. Also do you think the sounds my washer makes are normal? I am hoping mine will be trouble free as yours.
Dee

never mind my previous dumb question about weighted feet...I understand what you meant. Yes that is what my problem was and you are right about it being hard to detect. One thing I wondered about also is what would happen if the electricity went off during a cycle. My electricity went off for a few seconds and the washer took up where it left off when it came back on. I do have it plugged into a surge protector.

Joe, I suggest you pull up the owner's manual on each of these models off their copany's web sites. The Duet's Perm Press cycle is called Normal/Casual. Bosch's is entitled Perm Press. GE's is either Perm Press or Wrinkle Free. Viewing each manual will give you additional detail on each cycle, although all Whirlpool products products are becoming less informative with the latest generation of manuals. Suffice it to say on Whirlpool products, Hot is 127 degrees, Warm is 100 to 105 degrees, and cold is 70 degrees. Sanitary is 153 to 155 degrees.

1. I am very happy with my Whirpool Duets that I bought 2 years ago.
2. Compared to my old Whirlpool Top Loaders, I feel the machine cleans and rinses well. Sometimes if I put too much detergent in and if my clothes are not dried from the prior load, I put the clothes trough a 20 minute cold water rinse. I love how easy it is to use.
3. My machines are level with no pedestals so I have no problems with shaking or vibrations. I chose no pedestals since I am petite and I wanted to be able to use the top of the machines to fold laundry in my laundry room.
4. The Quickwash is only 35 minutes which I use a lot when I only have a few things of a certain color to wash.
5. No it does not have a permanent press setting on the face of the machine.
6. On the normal and quick washes, you can change the temperature and the spin cycle and if you want to add an extra rinse to it. You can only use VERY Hot for the long Sanitation cycle.
7. I wish the machine would let me use VERY HOT on any cycle I chose to.

So far I have had no problems with my machines that PC Richard & Sons installed and gave me a great price on better than Sears could give with their 10% off deals.

I've been using my 9400 for only a few days, so I can't answer some of your questions. In the 4 days I've been using mine I am extremely happy with it, however. :)

Mine is on the first floor over a crawl space with joists beneath. It does do a bit of shimmy and shake, but I don't think it's out of the ordinary or a problem. It sits about a half-inch from the dryer and they never even come close to touching during the spin, not does it bounce around.

I was prepared for wash times to be much longer than I'm used to with the old toploader, but it's not so bad. I'm using the "normal" setting right now, which I think is 40 minutes.

Best of luck in your decision.

I have the Duet 9400 washer and LOVE it. I chose it based on good reviews in Consumer Reports and the wash cycle length. Some of these front-loaders (and even new top-loaders) have very long cycle times. There are five people in my family and I need a washer that can handle lots of loads daily. This machine also has a very large capacity. I have had some trouble with it "twisting" blue jean legs but, overall, it has been the best residential washing machine I've ever used. I had an early-model Maytag Neptune before and this is MUCH nicer, faster, etc.

I just recieved my Duet 9400 3 days ago and absolutely LOVE it! I had the Bosch Nexxt DLX washer for three weeks and I had nothing but problems and after multiple repair men out ended up returning it for this one. Even when the Bosch did work (every other cycle it would keep adding hours) it would take forever to do a normal load. This Duet works very fast and I have tried to mix up the laundry to see if it would do what the Bosch would do and it just keeps running through the cycle.

Tip: Don't use HE liquid detergent, it will ruin your washer (ruined my friend's 9400).

Sears sells a very good, imo, huge bucket of HE powdered detergent for a very reasonable price. You can even get it delivered via their website if you don't live near a Sears (and a couple times they've offered free shipping which is really nice!)

I have had my 9400 washer for almost 2 years with no complaints. It is in a basement on cement and doesn't seem to move at all. It sounds like a small jet plane about to take off during the spin cycle! Not at all loud, but a slight high whine that gets higher and higher unti you think it will either take off or explode (but it doesn't!)

Another tip: you should run your hot water in the utility sink before doing a regular warm load. The temp boost only works on the sanitary selection and the whitest whites, and won't help a regular warm load's temp at all.

The Duet has a huge capacity which I love! I fill it with jeans, select the heavy duty cycle and everthing comes out clean! (and very wound-up and tangled. you have to shake out your clothes so they don't dry all twisted and wrinkly. I imagine this is with all FL.)

What would I change? Nothing really, although we are redoing a new house and I'm strongly considering either the Bosch Nexxt 700 series or the Duets for the new house. The price is slightly lower than the Duet and the Bosch 500 rec'd very good reviews on Consumer Reports.

Warning: Too much sudsing is one of the major troubles with the Duet (and probably other FL as well). Always use HE detergent and don't use too much - a little goes a LONG way!

Good luck!

PS. I really noticed a large drop in our water consumption after installing the Duet.

smarge-I was interested in what the liquid detergent did to your friends machine? I have heard it is bad for them. I was told it will mess up the seals. A friend at work had a problem with hers not draining/spining right and was told it was from liquid Tide build up over the drain and it was keeping it from draining properly thus the spin problem.
Just curious about what problems your friend had.

Thanks for the tips everyone. I should let you know that I got my washer, I went with the Bosch. Just personal preference, they all seem to be good machines. I have been using liquid HE detergent. I use 1/2 to 1 TBSP depending on the load. Hopefully this will work fine, I have never been able to find a detergent I can use other than All Free & Clear, hopefully they never discontinue it. I'm sure there are a lot of other people looking for FLers who have also appreciated your input. You are all wonderfully helpful.
Thank again
Jo