Product review (5 stars): Ratings Confirmed!!
We bought the Speed Queen AW 542 washing machine just over a week ago. Here's our story.

We had an older top end GE washer that we thought had a leak, so we started looking at alternate washers.  It turned out we didn't have a leak - it was a problem with my wife attempting to add another piece of laundry after the cycle had started.  She had to restart the machine, and it overflowed.  The machine was still working well, and we had been satisfied with its performance. But, before we understood we didn't have a problem, we started looking for a new washer.

In researching new machines, we learned several things:

1.  There are a number of issues with the new HE and front loading washers that we weren't aware of.

2. The current Speed Queen doesn't suffer from them.

3.  Upcoming added regulations in circa 2015 will require Speed Queen to have to redesign its machines to comply or else quit supplying them.

Meanwhile, the existing Speed Queen had all the features we were looking for:

Commercial quality construction.  Metal gears versus plastic.  No electronics to fail.  Mechanical switches.  A reputation for getting clothes cleaner.  The ability to choose your "real" wash water temp.  Second rinse. Basically, what the other posters have been saying.

So we decided to get ahead of the upcoming changes, and buy the machine we wanted while we could still get it.

I was a bit concerned about a nominally smaller tub.  But that turned out not to be an issue.  I've just finished a wash that included a large fleece blanket, bedding, a large load of underwear, and three shirts.  Machine had no problem in handling it.

The clothes are noticeably whiter even after one wash.  That confirmed what we saw when we  first washed old towels in the machine to be sure the tub was clean.  Some minor grease we found on the tub and wiped away disappeared from the towels in the wash cycle.  No special treatment - we were testing.

The new machine is heavier than the GE washer because of better construction materials.

Our price was $829 from a local, not big-box, store ex. sales tax.  Delivery and setup was $39.  That would have also included haul away, but we elected to keep the old, well functioning, washer to contribute to a needy family.

We are very pleased with our purchase, and confident we won't have to face government regulation issues impacting our washing for a very long time.