Well the new motor fixed it, so I guess I'll let this drop.

I don't think you could go wrong with either.. both are of European design (or half-European for the Duet) and I trust the Europeans' longer experience in making reliable front-load washers. Salesmen at the appliance stores I visited have generally recommended Bosch, Miele, and/or Whirlpool. You might want to consider the availability of Miele service and parts though. I bought a Whirlpool Duet 9400 in March and have been pleased with its performance. I had a white bath rug with blue dye stains that no top-loader would ever get out, but after running it through several laundry cycles with the Duet (washing and drying each time), the stains eventually disappeared. I really don't know what to make of mc58's problem with the Duet 9200. I had a 9200 for a couple weeks before exchanging it for the 9400, but I never experienced problems as bad as described by mc58. See my recent post about differences between the Duet 9200 and 9400 here: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/laundry/msg11133252652.html?6 That said, if you do decide to go for the Duet, I recommend avoiding the 9200 and getting their 9400 model (or if you want steam, the 9500 or 9600). Even though there aren't supposed to be significant differences between them, it seems from these boards that most owners of the 9400/9500/9600 are quite pleased with their purchase.

I have had front loaders for about 13 years now, and as soon as my new house is completed in a couple of months I am going back to a top loader. If I can purchase a satisfactory "modern" top loader...great. otherwise I will look for an older used one in good shape. My Duets will go in the barn for quilts or throw rugs until they finally die. I have hard water and use minimal detergent. While the Duets are nice for washing large blankets and quilts, I feel they do a lousy job rinsing things like towels. There just isn't enough water to do the job. Towels soak up the minimal water, and there just isn't enough to do a good rinse job. At first glance when using a heavy duty or sanitary wash cycle the laundry appears to be well rinsed. However, if they are re-washed with no detergent on a bulky items cycle, which fills the washer with more water, there are tons of suds left in the drain/rubber boot area. Sometimes it takes another bulky item cycle to get all the suds out. It doesn't matter what He detergent it is, and scaling down the amount lower than the lowest stated useage amount makes for dingy towels. I was also getting itchy skin from my jeans, so I put those through extra cycles with no soap as well. No more itchy skin. I use unscented detergents such as Ecos and Seventh Generation because Tide and such would just tear me up, and was absolutely horrible rinsing out. I am all for water conservation, but having to run multiple cycles in no way saves money or resources. In my opinion, these washers do not use enough water and the government has no business dictating what water levels my dishwasher and washing machine use, or what lightbulbs I purchase for that matter. Consumers have the ability to control the quality and conservation issues with how they spend their dollars, and I already have a mother and father. I'm going to look into tweaking the water levels.

Well, I finally moved into the renovated house and have the following comments about the Nexxt 800 washer. Per ascotgranny above, the manual does not list the rinse temps for any wash cycle. Very likely, because EVERY rinse is WARM! I just learned this today! How DARE Bosch claim that they have a "Hand wash" cycle for very delicate easy care items that require hand washing" Anything I own that requires hand washing also usually requires being washed (and also RINSED) in COLD water! What good does choosing a COLD wash do if your items are then rinsed in very warm water? I washed a load on COLD regular wash and if finished with very warm clothes. To make sure the hoses weren't reversed, I washed a load on HOT regular wash, and it finished with the items the same temp as the cold wash finished! I then washed some slightly delicate items on the Hand Wash setting and they also finished warm! I also had to update this thread with new info., because apparently the Bosch Nexxt 800 washer that I saw at Karl's in NJ has been updated to eliminate the Rinse/Spin button! I stated above that it had the Rinse/spin option, one option that was important to me, and it DOES NOT have it! Be warned of these unadvertised changes, which are negatives against the Bosch 800 imo. I'm going to research other washers and see if I can still get mine replaced due to these disappointments.