Product review (5 stars): Great performance!
The agitator on our 90's base-model Kenmore broke after about 12+ years of use. I couldn't justify the cost of replacing the parts to get it working again.  We exhausted our research and came across all of the bad reviews on the high-efficiency issues of washers on the market as of 2011.  People were complaining about less water, less clean clothes, less hot water, smell of mildew with front loaders, wash time, etc.  I made mind to find for the most inefficient top-load washer I could find to mirror what we had.  We were leaning on the top-loaders that filled 50% with water, but we were swayed by this Samsung when we saw an open-box unit selling for $620 at a big-box store.  The previous ownerreturned it because of a minor scratch.

We are delighted they returned it! We got a great performing machine and haven't experienced any of the reported issues most customer reviews scream about online.  Complainers resonate the loudest to you when it comes to a big-ticket item purchase.  We overlooked the naysayers and dived-in.  Not only did the open-box sale price push us into this 2011 top-of-line model. The allergy certification swayed us heavily because our 4yo has major allergies (mites, pets, etc).  The sanitizer option is fantastic!

When compared to our base-model 90's washer, this thing is awesome!  It is super quiet during the wash cycle.  The only time we really hear it is during the spin cycle.  When you use the extreme spin-cycle setting it whines-up like a turbo engine, but it sounds cool to me.  I dig it!  When it's done, it makes a silly musical jingle...we no longer get the end-game buzzer sound.  The washer sounds so happy that it finished another load for us.

Our clothes come out clean.  They smell fresh.  They're warm after the wash.  The water-temp naysayers should change their hot-water tank setting.  My wife's nursing uniforms no longer have lent-balls on them after a wash.  The dryer filter is getting less lent too.  We tossed half of the house into this thing the first week.  It got stains out of our white living-room pillows that we just couldn't remove with the other washer.  My son's bedding and other items were all sanitized.  The washes don't take too long.  Generally 40-60 mins under a heavy normal-wash load and 2 hours with the sanitize option.  We can get others things done while its underway - why are people complaining about the time of a washer?  Go watch a game while its on!

We leave the washer door cracked to air-dry.  Once a week I'll clean the rubber seal to prevent any mildew smell.  A little pro-active cleaning and maintenance goes a long way.

When you use the sanitizer be careful of your kid's teddy-bears.  One furry little puppy teddy-bear hitched a ride on a load by mistake.  He came out looking like a bald Chihuahua.  We may need to comb it for a week to get the hair fluffy again!  Put your decorative pillows on delicates not sanitize - you might see some fraying from the seams.  Yes, I went overboard cleansing our linens after we bought it!

If you buy it from a big-box store, be sure to make observe and review the installers work.  Our installers stripped the plastic hot-water connection with a rushed job.

If you can find this unit as an open-box then leap on it.  I think you'll be VERY pleased with the deal and quality of cleaning you get you of this machine.  If you purchase one at full retail price you should still be pleased with the results.  Hopefully we won't experience any mechanical or computer issues in the future, but to date we're very pleased with our purchase.  Now if only I could park a car in this thing to clean where the kids sit...