Sorry Makeitsew there is no quick wash or prewash. As you toggle thru the various categories you will be able to see what spin, water, soil level each cycle will allow. You could do the spin and rinse, with extra rinse (36 min.) for a quick wash of a couple items. Prewash could be accomplished by using a rinse and low speed spin. I never use the prewash on my old unit, so it wasn't a factor in my purchasing decision. Would be nice to have a quick wash. However, most quick wash features are for a few clothes and I would be interested in knowing the actual minutes listed for that cycle. Below are listings for time. Some cycles will only allow certain spin speeds and water selections. If you use too much soap that would make the times longer. I know people complain of balance. But this isn't my first FL and I've always washed one item and never had any problems. Both in the old FL and the new. Maybe I've just been lucky. Delicate cycle with light soil, low spin, is 38 minutes. Perm. press light soil, med. spin, is 44 minutes. Normal with light soil, any spin speed, any water is 46 minutes. If the total run of your dryer vent(from behind the dryer extending thru the walls to the outside) is only three feet, then the dryer times will be fast. Mine basically exits right outside the wall, so I just have to watch for lint build-up on the animal guard on the outside. You will want to use the options on your dryer. Look in the manual, it shows how much cool time within each cycle. Use the perm. press cycle when appropriate. I also use the wrinkle guard button on the perm. press. Otherwise you'll end up with wrinkled clothes. You can go to Samsungs website and download the manual if you want to look at the display board. The manual that comes with the unit isn't too descriptive. However, the controls are pretty self explanatory. You can just flip the dial to turn on the unit. You don't have to power up the unit before selecting.

Well I've only had my 218 for about four months. The machine seems to wash really well. Even when the Maytag was new, it just doesn't compare to the how quiet and how much better the Samsung washes the whites. Even hubby commented on how quiet this new machine is even when spinning. The Maytag, even when new, kind of sounded like a jet getting ready for take off. The pump on the Samsung seems louder. But I think that's because I have the pedestals and the noise kinds of echos off the box. My old front loader set on the floor. My old dryer you could basically set it and use the same setting for all clothes. This new dryer will toast/wrinkle your permanent press if you don't put it on the correct setting. I bought the Maytag thinking it would last for 20 years. It barely made it to past nine. And apparently I got one of the few that wasn't problematic. So I was very hesitant to put big money in another FL. I also wanted pedestals and went back and forth between buying or just building a platform. Since I planned on raising the units, I would need a matching dryer so I could reach the controls. If you do mix units, be aware that they're not all the same height. I spent more on my old Maytag FL than I did for both my new Samsung washer and dryer. Only time will tell how reliable the machines are. But I will tell you I'm impressed with how well they work. I also love the pedestals. If you don't want to spend the money put them on a platform. I guess the only thing I miss is the light in the washer. However, with them up you can really see in the drum, and there is not an issue with leaving the door open when there is no light.

Hi bancora, keep in mind that people tend to have their biases. That repair shop may simply be seeing more traffic from people with certain brands, because consumers will recommend repair specialists based on brand. Think about how someone who owns a BMW might look for a BMW repair expert by querying family, friends and co-workers. Also, just because they see a lot of Samsungs, doesn't mean the brand necessarily suffers from more defects than average. Here in the U.S., repair shops see twice as many top-loaders, if not more, based simply on marketshare. In Europe, the reverse is obviously the case: Marketshare, Top Loading Washer, Front Loading Washer Europe, 10%, 90% US, 65%, 35% That said, it's kind of surprising that the shop would see so many Samsungs, given that LG has the largest U.S. marketshare among front-loading laundry units: http://www.lg.com/us/press-release/article/lg-electronics-captures-number-one-market-share-in-front-load-home-laundry-revenues-in-us.jsp Another factor that introduces biases in discussion forums like this, is that you will mostly see the complainers here. People who like their washers and dryers rarely visit owner forums to report their positive experiences. But the complainers will drown out Best Buy and other retail forums with their nightmare experiences, especially when a manufacturer fails to address their problem properly. So you need to be judicious when shopping and look at the total number of positive reviews, the way Amazon.com does it, to form an educated opinion. Too bad that Amazon.com does not really sell washers and dryers, that would really be helpful. Hope that helps. :)

I'm very excited about the steam feature. I've read some comments here that were very skeptical about steam. But I think it IS a good thing, especially if you have to care for suits and stuff like that that should not be washed all the time - (steam in the dryer). And the steam feature in the washer I hear is great for stain removal. And if you have babies around attracting stains wherever they go, than I think steam could be your new best friend! I feel like I've learned so much the past few days just by reading tons of posts. I found out I really don't know how to do laundry correctly (as far as temp, products, etc). I did not know that your washer could get atherosclerosis (build up of fatty material :D ) and that your clothes could suffer from overweight problem (accumulation of chemical residues)! I just ordered some Charlie's Soap yesterday, and I am planning on buying some white vinegar too. Now, is the white vinegar the one you buy for cooking, in the cooking aisle? Any brands that you recommend? I just want to do this thing right from the start. I don't want to end up w/ a smelly W/D or smelly clothes.