I'm about to purchase a vapor steam cleaner. My top priority is the weight and size. I hope to be able to fit it under my sink in the kitchen. I want it to be easy to access so I will be more likely to use it often. Sorry you have had such a bad experience. My second priority is "stainless steel"boiler. i.e. no rusting. Third priority is continuous fill. I don't want to have to wait twenty minutes on those occasions where I have refilled the tank for it to get hot again. The best one that fits my criteria is Ladybug brand. It is expensive. I don't think I can get by for less than $1049.00, yow! The second one was going to be "Tidyvap" brand but they don't make it anymore. A local guy here tells me that Reliable brand will fit my requirements except it is 21 pounds and the ladybug is only 15. I hope to get to see one next week when he hopes to have one in his shop. Buying from a local shop would really be hard to pass up but I still think the weight of the machine is VERY important. If I decide on a Ladybug brand, I'm going to order from allergybuyersclub.com I haven't been able to find any local dealers for Ladybug. I think you can also get one from amazon.com for a little more but you might be able to expedite shipping. The TR5 looks like a pretty good price. I can't find where it says it is continuous fill but I'm not sure I have to have that. I did find where it says it is stainless steel. Saving $500.00 would be nice. Still looking and thinking. If you know of another vapor steamer that meets 3 criteria above but is less than $1049, let me know. Good luck on your search. Keep us posted.

Oops, wrong forum! Told you I was a newbie:) My apologies.

Looks pretty good. Weigh it! Subtract a pound for the basket. As I said before Staber takes 18 pounds of varied clothes with one gallon of triangular air space dry, 2 gallons without socks which are puffy so no the clothes are not jammed in. With that much clothes I find I need 4 ounces powder, or 2 liquid stead of one. I wait till the splashing drum is a bit muffled, this indicates suds. Powder must be melted first, at least with my junky detergent. I add it manuelly. Gotta get some Tide Cold, it was thee best in a recent CR shootout. Did some reading about FP this afternoon....."Fisher and Paykel was tops in energy efficiency of all the top loaders," (CR) I'm sure Smart Fill helped with that. Staber does 5 dollars a year gas. Staber also has "Auto Fill Sensing" however, and adds water depending on the size of the load, I see no use for this frivoulous feature however. Uh-oh....here comes Dross again... In case Angela is still wondering....According to CR "Do'nt overstuff the washer.... clothing needs enough room to move so it can be properly cleaned and rinsed, especially in a top loader. You can fill the tub of a front loader, but do'nt jam the clothes in." In addition to the 18 pound capacity, the Staber works really well for puffy items, pillows, comforters, and such. I can wash 3 full size bed pillows and a lite twin size comforter all at the same time. They are rendered clean and odorless, pillows are always puffier afterward. The machine spins out fine in that mode, and does so on MAX spin speed as the machine washes these items without my having to set it on delicate, so the wash is more aggressive also. Really wrings em dry. That's what I mean by EVEREST of gentle. CR 2005 observation "New survey data show that Fisher and Paykel has been among the most repair prone top-loaders" CR observes recently that stainless steel can stand up to higher spin speeds but "has no edge over plastic". Unfortunately, in my reasoning sneeky engineers can breathe on plastic formulas in the lab in such a way as to feed mold if they elect to as can be done with paints (which contain tasty vegetable oil for mold to feed on). Plastic just scares me. It can absorb odors also depending on the plastic. Especially after 5-10 years. Stainless steel is beyond just odor-neutral, it is an air freshener. Not only that, when an inner tub is stainless both sides of it are stainless, thus protected/ deoderized, plastic parts are often hollow and what if both sides are not glossed? Hollow parts increase surface/odor area as there are 2 sides to them. The finished glossy plastic is free of pores and stain resistant and in the same way, porcelain tubs are often finished on only one side. By pores I mean either literal or regarding retention as in odors. All this plastic jiberish is really just my own opinions/theorizing. But we have tupperware that definitly suffers from these problems, and even feel greasy and smells after hot wash or maybe because of it as these tuperwares soften with heat. On the Staber all 4 surfaces front and back of the inner and outer tubs are, well stainless, and have a natural permanent air freshening quality. One things for sure, the Staber always smells crispy fresh. Both tubs are thick as a butter knife, 18 gauge, and the frame base is stainless also on the 2404 model I went with. The outer tub can also be accesed and cleaned by hoemowner. Long story short a friend down the street has a speed queen porcelain top loader and while it does'nt smell horrible it sure does not smell crispy fresh like the S----r does.

@ sshrivastava: Regarding the animated display: I'm not saying it can't be done but I think it won't be done. Miele does not even sell washers in any other color other than white (besides that one Chocolate Edition in Canada). Even their fanciest products have the same orange display. The only item, it seems, where Miele does allow several different colors are their vacuum cleaners. Their newest S6 line even comes wrapped in velvet. It's not only Miele that uses water softeners in dishwashers. Every single dishwasher manufacturer in Europe uses them. Again, not saying it can't be done or that it wouldn't be a good/interesting idea - I'm just saying that I don't see it happening any time soon. @ livebetter: Bosch makes some good appliances and very efficient ones, too. Even in green Europe, they are continuously bringing out appliances that are a little more efficient than all the others. Technically, the fill and drain hoses on the Miele washer are no problem as they should really be long enough to reach behind the dryer. The dryer, however, can be a problem because you will obviously have to add extra venting to connect the dryer's vent to the opening in the wall. This should add two more elbows, which can be problematic if there is already a long vent run to the outside. The Bosch washer is .24 cu.ft. larger, which means roughly one lbs. more capacity. Bosch calls it AquaStop - Miele Waterproof. Same technology. Unfortunately, there are very few videos of the Vision online. This one shows Miele's venting process on the Comforters cycle. How much more or less water the Bosch uses - I don't know. Regarding the max temperature: well, my washer can go up to 203F and I never use it. 140F is the highest temp I use, so 158 would be hot enough for me. Both washers will heat the water whenever needed - except for Miele's "Normal" cycle, I think. Both washers have cold-only rinses. The Bosch dryer does not reverse tumble. 100 rpm won't make much of a difference. "Spin Speed Optimized Drying Time" just gives you a better initial estimation of the time left to dry the load and that "DynamicAir" technology... Miele also has a very powerful blower but it's just not given a special name. Miele probalby makes the better washer/dryer but those doors and the venting... HTH, Alex