I'd wait for either the Duet Sport 3.6 with the heater due out in May or wait for the existing Duet to get the upgraded suspension(I have no idea when those will hit). The Sport with the heater, extra capacity and the six point second floor suspension would be my choice because I'm not sure any of those FL's with a decent suspension would be price comparable or very large in capacity. Unless you know exactly how strong your second floor is going to be many of the FL's have vibration problems and there are many posts about that on this forum. The sport was built to address those concerns. If you can't wait, don't want a heater, and can live with the 3.3 capacity the first Duet Sport is being released this month...in fact one poster said they saw them in Lowes...but confirm they have the six point suspension cause that one seems to be up in the air ( different folks haven't agreed on that one yet). It;s been posted the price on the 3.3 is between $800-$900. I looked at Bosch, Siemens, HE's and every single one talks about floor support, solid surface ( in fact Bosch will sell you floor brackets to bolt their machine down). All these are supposed to be good machines but on a second floor I'd be worried about vibration...so I'd take a look at the Sport...good price, decent size, second floor suspension...only negative is it's new.

VRT gets some good reviews but as said so often, there's no guarantee since there's so many variables. No idea even where you live to guess on construction but unless it's unusual, few apartment over garage places have very solid construction from what I've seen. If you like the machine it'd be worth a try, but I'd definitely make sure the dealer will take it back if it has vibration issues and you could always look at a TL HE machine.

I am also curious about this. CR recently reviewed antivibration pads and a new anti-vibration unit that the whole washer sits on. We currently have a top loader on second floor on shake-away pads, and it still shakes the floor more than we would like. CR's most recent tests rate so many washers as excellent on vibration that it is not helpful. Has anyone found real vibration tests for recent (new) models?? The pad that CR likes is only for front-loaders, so we are looking at the following, either: 1. THe best (least vibration) front loader and the anti-shake pad (steadywash I think), or, 2. The least vibration top loader (don't care if it's top or front as we hang all of our clothes, but our current top loader uses way too much water, as evidenced by our water bill increase after we got it - so would prefer something that uses less water) CR mentioned Samsung WF520AB[P] when they tested the pads. Thoughts? Thanks!!!

OMG! I'm so happy to have a working washer/dryer!!! Lowe's delivered a week ago and I'm still trying to catch up on my deferred laundry piles. LOL I said I would report back after my Samsungs were delivered. After only a week, I have to say that I am loving my SAMSUNG set. My laundry room is on the second floor and I was very worried about vibration issues. Verdict-the washer hasn't moved an inch. We didn't even have to fuss with the leveling much during the installation. I feel confident saying that this machine is an excellent choice for a second floor front loader. My loads thus far have been pretty typical - no bath mats or blankets which might be a bit more challenging. I'll have to report back on those later. My clothes seem cleaner and because they come out of the washer pretty well wrung out, the drying cycles take less time than the washing cycles. The machines are really a pleasure to operate. They are so attractive and I really like the chimes, etc... It just feels like such an upgrade from my basic white Maytag top loader set. On a side note: I purchased FloodChek hoses (which are supposed to be superior to the steel braided ones) and one of the hoses leaked!! I was very disappointed! I had to run out to Lowes and buy one of the steel braided hoses until I can get a replacement for the flawed FloodChek.