I recently researched washers and dryers and made a buy on Good Friday. For super reliable and excellent but plain looking top loafers - Speed Queen is the way to go. For front loaders with more features but the burdens of less reliability, Miele is probably the best but wicked expensive. Other brands that folks on GW like are Electrolux and Samsung. My wife hates the doors on the Electrolux units, you push in to unclick and open them. The samsung units have a honeycomb design to the tub similar to the Miele which is supposed to really decrease wear and tear on clothes. Another important feature is direct drive which makes for the quietest units. We opted for Samsung WF457ARGS and the matching dryer. Got them for half price and free pedestals from AJ madison during their Black Friday sale. Still awaiting shipment though, on back order ....

Whatever you choose, make sure it isn't a Whirlpool Cabrio. We purchased one and replaced it with a less expensive model that didn't have a water saver feature. I don't understand why manufacturers make washers with water saving features. Isn't the purpose to clean your clothes? When I ran my new washer for the first time, I watched through the clear lid as it SPRAYED water onto the clothes. The tub never filled past the halfway line and it never fully saturated the clothes. The spin cycle threw them so tightly against the side of the washer that I had to peel them off the side. The mudstains on my slacks were still there. They were more wrinkled than before I washed them. I have since read reviews that mirror my experience. You might want to check out some of these BEFORE you throw $800.00 down the toilet. I didn't have the heart to try and push it on someone else so I ordered another machine and let them take the new one away. Whirlpool wouldn't give me my money back. No more business for Whirlpool from me.

I knew when I moved into this house that the 25 year old Kenmores wouldn't last long, so I started researching then. I've read articles, reviews, and I think I've been to every store that sells appliances in a 50 mile radius. I need a top-loader due to space constraints, and I wasn't pleased with any of them. When the washer and dryer died at the end of August, I knew I had to bite the bullet and choose something, and I was going to go with the Maytag Centennial. Until I saw the LG top-loader. I looked up the reviews and they were consistently good, and they had a good repair rating by a leading consumer periodical. My budget isn't unlimited, and they were much more than I wanted to spend, but I haven't regretted it for one minute. I love them. The capacity is amazing, and the clothes come out much cleaner than any other washer I've ever owned. But you are the only one who can decide if a top or front loading machine is best for your needs. There are pros and cons to each. I strongly suggest you measure your available space, and where the necessary connections are as this may limit your choices. And then go to an appliance dealer that carries a broad range of machines and actually touch them, and look at them. Keep in mind some of the suggestions you've received here. Then go and read the reviews. It's important to see them because I found that I would find one that received okay reviews, but then when I saw it, something about it would annoy me - like the 5 settings for cold - cold, tap cold, cool cold, etc.

sue15c, I'll tell you my ideas about why FL's clean better than agitator TL's, and why some FL's disappoint some owners. They're based on long-time use of agitator TL's, followed by six months and counting with an FL. Sorry for the long post, but since you asked three times, I figure you really want to know :-) No opinion on HE TL's, having never used one. 1) Washing action: In an FL, the entire load is tumbling around, so everything is continually rubbing (but lubricated by water), flexing, and falling against the drum. In a fully-loaded agitator TL, only part of the load is exposed to vigorous washing action at a given time. 2) Length of wash cycle: Some FL's, like mine, have pretty long wash cycles on at least some cycle selections, with an option to make them even longer. A half-hour wash cycle gives plenty of exposure to the washing action, and to detergent and other products. A full hour wash cycle is even more exposure, and is great to have available for dirty stuff. Agitator TL's have shorter wash cycles, maximum of 15 or so minutes in my experience. Some FL manufacturers also use short wash cycles, to satisfy users who want quick turnaround of their wash loads. Obviously (to me anyway), a shorter wash cycle means weaker cleaning performance. Also, it takes a few minutes for a large load to be entirely wetted. So if a wash cycle time of, say, 8 minutes includes the time to soak the load, then I imagine there's even less time for actual cleaning. 3) Wash temperature: The advantage here can go to FL or to agitator TL, depending on your plumbing and the features of the particular FL. If your hot water runs cold for a while, before turning hot, an agitator TL may still fill with mostly hot water, because the initial cold water is only part of the fill. But the much smaller fill of an FL may consist entirely of the cold water, even if you wanted warm or hot. So if that's your plumbing setup, and you replace an agitator TL with an FL with no heater, or a heater that's not programmed to boost the temperature on all cycles, then your washes may end up being cooler than you're used to. That'll affect cleaning performance. Maybe this hit is balanced out by better wash action on the FL, in some cases? I don't know. In contrast, an FL with a fully functioning heater, which boosts and maintains the temperature on all cycles, with a wide selection of wash temperatures, can have a definite advantage over an agitator TL, since water temperature is an important factor in cleaning performance. Unfortunately many FL's fall short of this ideal. But most if not all FL's with a heater have at least a super-hot "sanitary" cycle, with exceptional cleaning for fabrics that can stand the temperature. Also re temperature: Even with an ideal plumbing setup, most any new washer, FL or TL, will do warm and perhaps hot washes at a lower temperature than the older machine you're replacing. Among FL's, Miele is the only exception I know of. Among agitator TL's, the Speed Queen seems to be non-temperature-controlled, but I hear it uses more cold than hot in its warm mix. So its warm could also be cooler than you're used to, unless your hot supply is very hot.