I posted this earlier on another post so I thought I'd repost it here as is somewhat applies. The best washer would be a front load. Frigidaire or Lg. The Best dryer would be a Whirlpool with the lint filter on top. Same design for 40 years, a good quality product. But, only if you get the one with a timer and no electronics. All dryers heat at the same temp. If it got any hotter it would burn the house down. All dryers tumble the same speed. If it tumbled any faster it would be spinning the clothes. Why people spend up to a thousand for a dryer is beyond me. They all work the same, they dry clothes. But they do pay me $400.00 to fix them. YOU CAN GET A NEW DRYER FOR $350.00!!! New topload washers fill for wash and only fill half way for rinse. Its a government thing to save energy. The "energy efficient" top load washer with no agitator like the cabrio, well, its one of my favorite brands. Every one needs a new mainboard, tub springs go out, main bearing goes out. Get a quarter in the pump, pump is shot. The touch pad will fail. All day, everyday customers ask me what are the best appliances because their expensive two year old appliance is broke. I always tell them the cheapest ones. If a frig is full of electronics it will break and cost 2-4 hundred to repair it. A basic simple no fancy electronic frig will last. Whirlpool or Frigidaire. The fancier the range the better for me. Keep it simple. All ovens heat at 350 degrees. It seems today everyone is a chef, must be all those cooking shows. They buy $2000.00 ranges and pay me $400.00 to fix them. I love it. People pay big bucks on a dishwasher with all those buttons but only use the normal cycle. I don't get it. A mid line whirlpool is a good dishwasher. All dishwashers work about the same. Water comes in, sprays around, and drains. Its not magic. If you like the Bosch, Samsung, Miele, asko etc. make sure there are people in town that repair them. I'm like the only LG servicer in my area which means I can charge more to repair them. No competition, business 101. There are only a couple of people in my area that will repair Samsung refrigerators, bosch, asko, etc. And they are not cheap. Everyone repairs Whirlpool and Frigidaire. I live in an area with over 500,000 people so its not like we're in a small town out in the boonies. Talk to an independent local servicer that doesn't sell appliances and he can advise you on the appliances that he has the least problems with. You won't find too many appliance tech's that own GE. Their parts are the most expensive in the industry. Whirlpool, Frigidaire and even LG parts are reasonable. Fischer Paykel. There again one maybe two companies repair them. The only place I can find parts for them is from Fischer paykel and they're in New Zealand. Takes about 3 weeks to get parts. I just picked up a customer with apartments full of Viking. Viking controls their part distribution so only one part supplier on the east coast carries the parts. No competition means expensive parts which equals expensive repairs. Its a great time to be an appliance repairman. I was never this busy in the 90's with the simple basic appliances. All those new fancy electronic appliances keep me very busy.

Got the washer. It's great. Clothes get cleaner, dry faster, and it's so quiet you can barely tell it's running. (I do wish that the end-of-cycle signal was louder - I'd like to be able to hear THAT upstairs.) With the pedestal, it's a great height, and the pedestal even works well for storage. Also, the 120V hasn't been a problem at ALL. This machine uses so little water (yet still washes great) that it can still heat up the water QUICK even with the smaller heater. Even on the most aggressive cycle (Sanitize + Extra Soil + Extended + Sensitive) it's still much gentler on clothes than my old TL on Delicates. The controls are just simplified enough that they don't confuse anyone else in my house, and aren't missing anything significant to me. I'm still considering a new dryer. Will need either a left-opening or hamper-style door. Also, I want a real moisture sensor (instead of the simple temp-based system my old dryer has). A drum light, reversing tumble, and a real countdown timer (with good estimating logic based on moisture) would be nice too. Unfortunately the T9800 doesn't have the timer. Right now, I'm using Persil Sensitive, 1/4 to 1/2 cup in the main wash and under 1/4 cup in the prewash. Also 1/2 cup DWV in the fabric softener compartment (for cat odor). I've tried using LCB a couple of times - 1/2 cup on the Sanitize cycle for whites REALLY blasts the stains out. And there's no residual odor like there was when using LCB in my old TL.

I do not have a Miele. But I am about to purchase a Miele Dishwasher. Just want to let you know the appliance sales person told me there would be a 10% price increase from Miele on all appliance starting June 1.

I had an Asko pair for about 5 years in a weekend home. I liked the temp controls and the true hot washes. Great with whites. However, the lower cycles -- delicate etc never worked. They replaced the controller board and the machine. Same cycles never worked. The machine just stopped. Then the controller board in the second machine failed -- like the OPs. I looked all over the world for one but none available. So the machine had cold water wash only. Additionally, the water level was so low I could not wash my queen quilts for the guest room. The whole thing never became saturated -- no sensors. And it only had part time use. The company had been sold so no new boards for the Swedish machines. No washer should only partially work. If that's the case (and we checked the electricity as well -- no problem) there's something up with the washer. suburbanmd went for the TOTL Asko, the one that supposedly competes with the Little Giant. There were issues with cycles. That machine was also replaced with Miele as I did. Miele service can vary around the country. However, their warranties are fairly priced and give excellent coverage. Every time I replaced with Miele my problems went away -- that includes oven, washer and fridge. My Miele DW was 14 when I moved and still going. Truly hot washes come from having an internal heater, of course. Miele produced 158F washes as does my current Bosch. True, Asko does 190 and 205 and around here we love us a boil wash. But I never used those very hot cycles very much. With today's fabrics -- all the short fiber cotton and synthetics -- I find I use 125 washes for most things. Do use the true hot for towels, which is likely shortening the life of the towels but I'll take that. Would not buy any washer today without an internal heater. I don't know if the Miele Little Giant has a cold water intake only but it has a very powerful heater, great rinsing and real performance.