I am on my third washer in 38 years of marriage all were Whirlpool the first one lasted for 20 years. The current one I have had for 2 years is a front loader and it has been great once I learned that since we have softened cold & hot water to the laundry room I only needed to use 1/2 the soap. If you drop a sock and find it within the first 3 to 4 minutes after starting a load you can stop it and add it. At the time we bought each washer it was the top rated by Consumers report. Right now Samsung & Electrolux are the top rated with LG & Whirlpool the most reliable but Bosch is very close in reliablity. I do not hang clothes outside here because of the dust, so I put all sheets, towels, and underwear in the dryer but the front loader gets so much more of the water out every thing dries faster.