I second the apples and oranges title

We have had this machine for a few months and it is absolutely fantastic. In fact, this is the only place I have seen disparaging remarks, and I wonder if the reviewers actually have one.
With kids, we wore out a nice Kenmore top load direct drive doing 5 or more loads a week, and this is a whole different world. Sure it takes a little longer for a load, but in an hour you have cleaner, fresher, and nearly dry clothes out of the machine. We have probably already make our money back since we seldom use our dryer, as we just hang most thinks on a drying rack over night.
Special soap? Big deal, it doesn't cost any more, and you only have to use 1 or 1.5 ounces.
We also have a well with a softener that regenerates every 500 gallons, and now it only cycles once a week, instead of multiple times.
The stale smell that was much worse in our old machine, if fact, we have never left this door open and it smells like fresh softener.
As far as reliability, the motor comes with a 5 year warranty, and reliability ratings on these are fantastic.
New Christmas clothes still look new since there is no agitator, and it doesn't fray towels on the edge.
My only advice is to make sure clothes are color fast, because there is not enough water to allow a "color catcher" to work effectively, but since it only uses the water and energy needed for the specific load, you really don't feel bad for cleaning just a couple items at once.
I was warned that these can make a huge ruckus when they spin when placed in an upstairs laundry room.