Product review (4 stars): Works as expected
My unit looked pretty much as pictured except I have what resembles duct tape around the center of mine to cover the surprisingly sloppy glue job of putting the two halves together.  The sloppiness of the adhesive is very apparent on the inside but so far no leaks and the brown glue hasn't come off on my clothes that I have noticed. UPDATE: after seeing a recent reviewer remark about the seam problem and leakage I took more notice of mine and sure enough, the tape was coming away and it was because of seepage - I emailed customer service on Saturday, they responded on Monday morning right away they were sending a replacement and I had it Wednesday. You really can't ask for better service.  So, they had a bad batch and that can certainly happen with all the offshore mfrg these days.  Mine did come with some instructions and there is a little diagram at the bottom of the sheet and it is not really hard to put together if you even look at the picture here. It did not come with an extra handle as some have said but then again if you break the handle you are doing it wrong. This is not hard to crank if you hit the "sweet spot" of load's water/clothes ratio. I didn't think the stand was as flimsy as people are saying.  A lightweight tubular metal might be a nicer touch but this is serviceable. One of the warnings they give I cannot understand: "Do not release the pressure lid of machine if machine is still hot as vacuum can form when machine cools down" - huh?  If you opened the lid you can't have a vacuum. Don't understand - I think they mean to drain with the tube rather than open lid if machine is hot. I think.

The washing instructions are maybe easier if you have a scale to weigh your load, if they gave some average examples it would be better.  They don't mention whether chlorine bleach is safe (I was thinking of the glue) or how much of it to use and the amount of detergent though they list, I am sure can vary by concentration so it is a learning curve.  I did use chlorine bleach on two loads of whites and the glue has not disintegrated but I will try to limit my use of it in case - I am using about a tablespoon for a full load of 6 quarts.  I am going to email mfr and ask - will update here.  One word of warning - if you use bleach do not have face near opening when you you unscrew lid!  Whew, close call there lung full of hot bleach fumes - not nice.  UPDATE - I did email customer service during normal business hours and they responded within the hour that it is safe to use chlorine bleach.  I can tell you I have used 1 tablespoon to a full load (6 qts). The directions on the bleach bottle for 1 gallon of water is a quarter cup.  YMMV - I may up what I am using a bit but be careful when you open, it can be really fumey!

I did better on my second load. By my third load I was a pro. On my fourth and fifth loads I got complacent and didn't tighten the lid down properly and OOPS flood.  My fault entirely but my sixth load was the two bath mats I used to soak up the deluges :) from 4th and 5th loads. It handled the two bathmat/towels fine.

My logistics: no room in the kitchen so I am using the bathroom.  It doesn't fit in my tub very well - I believe this is a nonstandard (like everything here) small tub.  So for my second load I dragged and manhandled a sturdy occasional table through the nonstandard small doorway to hold this (and the spinner after)next to tub but there was only about an inch of clearance around table and I could barely reach the tub faucets.  So I picked up a sturdy fairly large step stool that is just a little lower than tub edge, but drain tube is high enough to clear. I fill it up with measured hot water with a pitcher.  For rinses, I do two - sort of- with cold water and I use my shower massage, first swishing them up a bit with the shower going in there with drain tube attached and let it run out a bit. Then pull tube and I close it up with a good amount of water and give it a couple of spins. And you definitely want a spinner/extractor if you are going to do real laundry, of course.

Now why you would want to put yourself through this if you are not a camper/nature enthusiast/environmentalist? I have had my eyes on this and similar items for awhile now as I went from a condo with my own washer and dryer to an efficiency (nothing efficient about this place) apt that not only does not allow a real portable but there is no where to put it.  My kitchen area is the size of two telephone booths and my bathroom a single telephone booth.  The laundry facilities were initially clean here but have gone downhill to a level of filth I simply can't reach with disinfectant wipes (you don't want to know what I discovered in the non user-removable lint strainer of the washers) and have seen people putting damp dirty towels and sheets and clothes into the dryer to save money bragging they are so "clever". No, they are filthy disgusting pigs. This isn't the venue I guess to talk about the laundrymat miseries. Pardon tangent.

Summary: I would recommend, I take off one star for the really sloppy glue job inside, you don't see it but your clothes are certainly rubbing against the brown adhesive and you have to wonder when something is going to come off on your good white blouse.