Product review (4 stars): Good Little Guy
This is the washer you should get if you are tight on space.  I am rarely at home, always between here and there, but I still can get my laundry done with this guy on the off-weekend that I've got an hour or two to spare on cleaning.  In my research, this was about the best mini-washer I could find.

Don't bother getting the cheap kind; it is throwing your money away, and it is painstaking to do such small loads.  Also, you would have to wring out your clothes and wrinkle them, instead of having a spin cycle.

I had some trouble with set up - I ended up with two random washers leftover.  So sometimes the part that connects the sink into the hose leaks, and sometimes the bottom of the washer piddles on the floor.  Still, it's never a big deal, as I keep it in the kitchen.  I think I may check the connection of the hose to the machine sometime.

Sears guys I have talked with in the past recommend having something around the base of washers, anyway (they would know, they've heard the horror stories) - I'm sure you could find a plastic bin at a dollar store or something.  The drain hose can be annoying to deal with in terms of finding a way to secure it.  The booklet assumes you have a utility sink that you can just hang it on, but I have a kitchen sink.  We've found that we can actually just lay it in our sink, but do get as much slack out of it as you can before you close the base of the machine.

For leakage, sink adapter, and drainage problems, several reviews here can give you good advice on things you can get at home depot.  I don't have a car, but for those of you who do, consider the idea if you need to.

I have a Brita filter on my kitchen sink, so I can easily switch between it and the washer.  Also, keep in mind that the temperature that your sink is at is the temperature your clothes are washing at.  I have a "lever" sink - the kind that doesn't have two separate hot and cold controls to control temperature.  Basically I have it on the cold side when I first put clothes in (to remove stains), and move it to warm for the final rinse (to reduce wrinkles and stretching).

Here's how I do a load:

* Reset to "low" water level.  Turn the sink on to cold, start regular wash. When it starts to swish, I add less than  cup detergent. (Never add too much; too little is better than too much.)

* I gently drop clothes in to about halfway up the tub. I reset to "high" water level.

* I set my cell-phone for half an hour.  When it rings, the final rinse is about to begin.  I change the sink to warm and add half a measure of Downy.  Both these measures reduce the wrinkling you get when you air-dry clothing.

* Wait a little longer, and jingle bells plays (off-key.  To turn off the jingle bells, just push down the washer button to "off".) Take out clothing immediately and hang.  (I purchased a well-rated Polder drying rack on Amazon.  Happy with it.)

I have only had an unbalanced load once.  I could hear the pain from the other room, and then the washer stopped.  Again, it was only once.  I suggest you read the manual.  (I heard someone say they just opened and closed the top, which isn't helpful for an unbalanced load - you actually need to rearrange clothes!)  I never needed to level the washer.  I think people who are having problems are either stuffing their washers with clothes or haven't leveled the machine.  Another possibility is that they're misinterpreting the pause and clicking right before drainage as a problem.

As far as "babysitting" the machine goes, I wouldn't say it was necessary.  You should stay around more often than you would if you had a regular washer, but usually I'm doing chores in my apartment on laundry day so it isn't a big deal.