Bosch, hands down. It's the only one in your list that uses its heater in every cycle to maintain optimal temperature. The others only use their heaters on 2 - 3 select cycles. In a front loader, since they use so little water, even if you put hot water in, it will end up tepid after the heat is dissipated warming up the cold machine and the cold clothes. Plus profile wash (starts out cold and slowly heats the water to remove stains that are best dealt with at a variety of temperatures), which I use quite a bit - my son creates unbelievable stains and they always come out.

Thanks aliceinwonderland.

So how many Bosch 500 models are there? Or is there just the regular (for lack of a better name) and the platinum?

the bosch 500 is part of the Nexxt line. that series has the 100, 300, 500, 700 and platinum. now if someone can tell me what the difference is between the last 3, then i'd have the answer to the question i just posted! :D

You don't get the profile wash until you get to 500. 700 is mostly a fit/finish difference, some chrome, but the internals are all the same. It has a waterproofing cycle, designed to be used to re-apply waterproofing chemicals to fabrics, in place of the quick wash in the 500 series. 500 comes in white or platinum - purely a color difference. I wanted white, but ended up with platinum to just because that's what Lowes had on hand - platinum costs more, unfortunately.

meg711, the KA Ensemble is discontinued, which is why the dealer has it on clearance. Discontinued not because of any problems with them ... but because Whirlpool has rebadged the KA Ensemble as the Maytag Epic. KitchenAid Ensemble, Whirlpool Duet/DuetHT, Kenmore HE3/4/5(t), and now Maytag Epic ... all these machines are siblings cut from basically the same cloth.