Cabrio/Oasis/Bravos (C/O/B) are sibling machines all based on the same design and made by the same manufacturer. The Oasis had a heater first, then recently the Bravos got it so the heater is NOT unique to the Bravos unit as implied. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Cabrio get a heated unit in the near future. Some claim they're all made at the same manufacturing plant, others claim they're different, but I haven't been able to confirm or disprove either claim. There's some Bravos fans that think Maytag is made in heaven while the others are the spawn of satan. I've been trying to find out some more info on them. After reading the following blog I decided to inquire from Whirlpool to see what their response would be to more direct questions. A quote from the blog, the response from Whirlpool: "The Maytag Bravos are built the same as the Cabrios." seems to contradict the Bravos fans who claim they're built more "heavy duty" or "better", more "bug free" or the like, but it'll be interesting to see the response to my email. I'll let you know. External differences? So.... is this simply appearance? Maybe a cycle or two different? Certainly they're not "identical" machines in the strict sense of the word. But if you don't understand the concept of sibling units no wonder there's the arguments over how much "better" one could be. Someone else on this board bought the Whirlpool WTW58ESVW which is an interesting machine. 4' capacity, Energy Star, and less than half the cost of a C/O/B or Harmony. Fisher & Paykel have a variety of efficient machines and seem to be very solid and simple units with a variety of options available.

This is like, so bogus.... Wash temperatures on my Miele W1926: Cold: tap cold to 85°F Warm: 105°F to 120°F Hot: 140°F to 190°F If you're stuck with an unmodified new Whirlpool, obviously you can select "hot" when you want warm water, and "warm" when you want cool. Not much you can do if you want hot water though.... Older ATC machines often allowed ATC to be disabled; then you could at least temporarily shut off the cold-water valve (in most installations) during the initial fill, then turn it back on. Reminds me of the chocolate bars I saw awhile back labeled "25% less calories than our regular bar" - because it was 25% smaller.... Be careful when buying. The manufacturers are taking advantage of every loophole in Energy Star certification, etc.

Thanks for all the advice, but i wound up getting the Bravos 6700. The main reason is only 1 store in my area had the Aquasmart and it was 950$. i was able to get the Bravos 6700 on sale and with 10% off coupon for 810.00$ plus free delivery. So far i feel i made a good decision. done laundry all week on the numerous cycles available on the Bravos and clothes have come out clean and almost dry, thus less time in the dryer which is what i missed when i had my Bosch Nexxt 500. Put it to a test earlier this week with a blood stain on a white sweater that had dried after my daughter had worn all day at school and it came out white as can be. i think the control are very easy to use and makes changing the preset cycles very easy to understand. I also like the fact the cycles are not long as they were on the Bosch 500- some regular loads of laundry took over hour w/o adding fab softener or bleach cycle and i used HE detergent. the cycles on the Bravos are about 45 minutes and the clothes come out clean. So, thus far, giving the Bravos a thumbs up.

I've done two loads of laundry in the new Cabrio HE top-loader. I don't think I have anything negative to say about how the clothes cleaned. I did use more detergent than this forum says one should. Using Tide HE, I filled to the "1" mark. It was late, I was tired and well, it kinda looked like a 1 tbls measure (g) It's not. It's at least 2x that if not more. The first load felt a little "thick" after drying. Towels weren't "crunchy" tho. I may not have even noticed it if I wasn't looking for a difference. The work clothes load (jeans and dark tees) felt ok. I'm going to reduce it to 1 tbls and hope that the over powering scent is less as well. Didn't add Oxy or vinegar to either load. Couldn't remember which dispenser the vinegar went in and had already loaded the clothes when I read that the oxy powder would have to go in the bottom of the washer BEFORE the clothes if using liquid soap. The vinegar goes in the fabric softener dispenser, right? 1/2 cup? I don't use liquid fs or the sheets. I don't care for the feeling of "limp" clothes and I know it creates a build up, not to mention towels aren't as absorbent. All my clothes washing life, I've washed towels, washcloths, underwear, socks together. I did it with this first load too, on the normal cycle, warm/cold, high spin. I saw no twisting issues. Can I/should I not combine these articles for washing in this washer? It would result in having to do more loads if I have to separate the towels. That's more time, water and energy. I washed the work clothes in hot/cold, heavy duty, high spin. I normally do NOT wash work clothes on heavy duty, just longer on the normal cycle and they come clean. What I do NOT like...I do NOT Like the locking lid! WHY in the world does a top loader HAVE to lock?? I know, I can pause it and look inside but I *need* to see it in action (lol) Really, I do! I remember seeing a YouTube video about how to disable the auto-lock feature on this machine....hummmmmmmm Can you REALLY see thru the clear lid? Seems like water and steam would prevent being able to clearly see the action. I have both water taps wide open. With the first load, I never felt warm water (I checked SEVERAL times). It was mildly cool. With the heavy duty load, the hot water didn't kick in till the "wash" cycle. The soak cycle was, again, mildly cool (what our cold water is here in Texas this time of year). The washer it's self is level (checked with a level) and doesn't move AT all when manually rocked back and forth, but, during the high speed spins, it vibrates pretty bad. It's not walking but it definitely jitters around and makes me worry about the integrity of the machine after so much of that kind of vibration. Yes, the clothes were distributed evenly. lulundave, can you "add" water to a cycle if you feel it needs more or just reset it to high, med, or low levels? You said it (Cabrio with agitator) has "just a few more bells and whistles". What does it have that the HE doesn't? Also, it doesn't appear to be an Energy Star machine :( Are HEs the only Energy Star rated washing machines? Thanks for ALL the comments and help. I truly appreciate the time everyone took to reply :) Monica