LG WT5101H Top Load Washer

After researching for quite a awhile I came up with this washer and the matching dryer as our choice. I would say easily 80% of reviews are very positive which is almost a rarity today. Even the majority of so called bad reviews are complaining about something that is senseless.

We wanted to stick with a Top Loader because frankly the Front Loaders still have design problems that just don't look like they are going away, namely Front loaders are more prone to Mold/Mildew problems, many of them have premature bearing failure (within 3-5 years) especially ones that are over 3.5cu.ft in size and many have seal leaks.

Top Loaders are FAR less prone to any of these malady's. 
Top Load HE machines at least this one and my last one clean just as good as any Front loader.

Only difference is the FL use a bit less water and electricity, however I figured out the difference between this one Vs what a FL of the same size 4.5cu.ft (actually biggest I could find was 4.3cu.ft) and with how many loads I do, about 5-6 loads a week the difference in electricity was about $4 PER YEAR and about $3 PER YEAR in water, so less than $10 a YEAR.
In other words completely meaningless.

I also prefer the loading and unloading of a Top Loader Vs a Front loader, although if you are under 5.2" you may have a problem reaching the bottom of this ginormous tub to get the last few pieces of clothing out.

 One thing I absolutely love about BOTH of these LG's is that the end buzzer is actually a nice little tune that is the perfect loudness for us to hear from upstairs.
Our 17 year old Dryer that just died on us (the reason we ended up buying a new washer and dryer) was so obnoxious that I literally hated it.
the buzzer was insanely LOUD and VERY irritating and lasted about 2 freaking minutes to boot.
These just end with a very nice little tune, very pleasant.

As far as cleaning, so far it works great.
Now cleaning ability of ANY washer also has to do with other factors than just the washer itself.
Like what detergent you use, if you use the right settings for the load you are washing, if you have "hard water" Vs soft water, etc.

We use Liquid Tide HE "Advanced Power" from Costco, which I think is the same as Tide HE with Bleach which is rated as number one on Consumer Reports.
Now since we have Hard Water and like everyone else with hard water your detergent in either your clothes washer or dishwasher do not generally work as well.

So to combat that you either need to get a water softener which I personally hate because I don't want to have basically sea water in my house.
Or you just add a tiny amount of "Sodium Tripolyphosphate" also called STPP to your dishwasher (about a 1/4 teaspoon) and your washing machine between 1/2 to 1 Teaspoon is all you need.
NOT TSP! (trisodium phosphate)  they are not the same.

Anyway STPP works with your hard water and makes it work better, the harder your water is the better the STPP works.

The only HOT water wash you really need with this machine is just doing very dirty whites, for the most part just warm wash cold rinse is more than adequate and everything comes out clean.

Now right here I am going to address the problem you see many people complaining about with this machine and it is a problem that does not really exist.
People keep saying this machine does not have hot water.
That is nonsense, in fact it works EXACTLY like it is supposed to. (As long as the internal heater works)

When you select "Hot" which is 122 degrees or the Sanitary cycle "Extra Hot" which is 158 degrees the water does not enter the machine "hot" is comes in cold at first then finishes with hot just briefly. ( I have checked the temp on mine BTW and it does get to 122 and 158).
This is exactly what all HE machines that qualify for "Energy Star" do, regardless if Front or Top loader.
They have an internal heater and that is what heats the water up to the desired temp. This is supposedly more efficient than having it come from your hot water heater and it can be regulated to exact temps. You are only heating about 10 gallons of water.
This is how they get the energy star rating and it is basically a requirement.

Those that complain about the water not entering the machine HOT are clueless and should be ignored.
Over 90% of the energy used to do a load of clothes is in heating the water if you use HOT. (cost about 68 cents to do a load of clothes on HOT and about .04 cents for cold wash)
There really is no need to use to use hot water to clean clothes unless they are REALLY dirty and greasy.

Now this machine uses just enough water to cover the clothes, when you start it it wiggles a bit and jostles the clothes around a bit in order to weigh the load.
Then by that weight it determines how much water to use.
So far it uses just the right amount every time. There is a "add water" feature on this machine in case you feel the need for a bit more water on a particular load for some reason, just press the "extra rinse" button and "Hold it for 3 seconds" you can do this twice which will more than cover the clothes completely. This is a feature I have seen on very few other HE machines.

  It has the usual single rinse which the majority of the time is just fine, but you also have the option of adding 2 more rinse cycles if you desire.

  The way the machine works is rather fascinating, it swishes hard one way then the next which causes a Blooming or almost boiling look as the clothes come up from the center and flow to the outside. Then it will start to spin and then dump the detergent water into the center which pushes the water through the clothes which IMO is better than the simple lift up and plop down of front loaders.

  At this point I see no cons at all. We bought ours at Sears, they had a sale of 10% off to start with, we got an extra 5% by using the Sears card plus an extra 5% I think it was buying them online which we did right there at Sears LOL. By the time it was all said and done we paid $728.00 each, plus tax and delivery for the Metallic color.

(Edit: April 9th 2012)  Small update after owning the machine 5 months now.
Still just as great, no problems of any kind what so ever.
It has yet to go off balance even once and we have done probably well over 200 loads by now and some of them really should have gone off balance, we have done loads where I have no idea how it spun at 1100rpm without going off balance but it did without a hitch.
Several months ago it almost got off balance once, but it stopped itself, jiggled a bit, added more water swished hard one way then the other and then started back spinning and self corrected.

The Dimensions are 29" deep, standard 27" wide and counting the control panel is 47" tall.
It is Energy Star compliant.
It has 14 presets plus a "Custom" set where you can create your own preset for exactly what you want.
Has way more than enough features.
It is actually VERY quite, only when it does its "Wave Force" thing by spraying detergent water do you even hear it really.
The dispensers are pretty standard, the usual bleach dispenser in the left corner, you just fill with bleach. The detergent dispenser seems to work very well.
The tub is very nice stainless.
The lid is glass so you can see what is happening which is sometimes fascinating.
So far after 5 months zero complaints.
The hot water works just fine on the 2 selections it is supposed to work on which is Bright Whites (up to 122 degrees) and Sanitary (up to 158).
If you want a "warm" wash you need to set it on regular "hot" setting then you get between a 78-90 degree "warm" wash depending on how hot the water is from your hot water heater and how cold your cold water is which varies from winter to summer plus how close the washer is to the heater and whether or not you flush the cold water out of your hot water line prior to washing.
If for some reason you want a "warm" rinse then you wont get it as far as I know but then again I don't think there are ANY HE/Energy Star washers that are any different.
This washer BTW cleans VERY well with COLD water by using its Wave Force action, it is one of its main selling points.