Product review (5 stars): LIFE-CHANGING for tiny-apartment dwellers.
I've now been the proud owner of my Panda (15 lbs) for about a year and i LOVE it. It is knows in my friend-circles as my "Japanese boyfriend".

A few details: I live in NYC on a third floor walkup in a tiny 500 sq ft apartment.

PROS:
- It works. There are a few details to be aware of (see cons), but it gets the job DONE, and has significantly improved my life quality. Before the panda, I used to make bi-weekly 5-hour trips up/down six flights of stairs to a highly competitive/expensive laundromat. No more!
- Its FAST but requires some work: The way it works is you fill up the laundry, add water/detergent and set the wash for 15 mins. After that, you flip a switch, and the panda automatically drains itself. You refill, and run a rinse cycle (also 15 mins). When it's done draining for the second time, you transfer the clothing into the centrifuge for 3- minute cycles (I do 2-3 centrifuges per load, depending on how much stuff you have in there). Is it a bit of a chore? Yes. But if you're looking into this you're not going to have a real machine, so this is absolutely as good as it gets.
- It's basically a giant, sturdy piece of plastic. I'm borderline emotional about it, but it is absolutely high quality, and very much designed to be simple and with the end user in mind.
- For what it does, it's surprisingly quiet (unless you load the spinner wrong - see cons).

CONS/Things to be aware of:
- Lint. There will be lint. I just bought a six-pack of lint remover and make sure to give things a check after they dry. I have also bought lint traps to put at the end of the hose to minimize issue.
- It will clog your drain. High draino usage recommended
- The spinner/centrifuge has a bit of magic to it. Make sure to fill it all the way up or it won't spin properly.
- It's big. I went with the larger one (15lbs) because I'm lazy, but its never going to be a discrete piece of equipment. That being said, for a washing machine, it's not bad-looking.

To sum up: me & my panda are extremely happy customers, and want to give a big shout-out to the product designers for producing something that makes life so much easier for us tiny urban apartment-dwellers.