Product review (5 stars): Nothing fancy, but it does the job well
I purchased this machine at a local retailer, but I did look at Amazon for reviews.  So I want to share my opinion with others doing their research.

I needed to replace my front loading washer. This is the second front loader that I've had to replace in the past 10 years.  The first was a Frigidaire which was purchased because I needed a stackable unit and it was the only one that fit my budget and was not teeny tiny. I never liked the Frigidaire. It was replaced with a Whirlpool Duet. I liked the Whirlpool and felt it did a much better job than the Frigidaire, but when it also kicked the bucket after several years, I decided not to go with a front loader again. They are way to expensive to replace every 5 years.

I was hesitant to go from a high efficiency washer back to an old style washer with an agitator. I like the idea of saving electricity, water, detergent, but the cost of replacing front loader every several years is not environmentally friendly either, and it is certainly not good for my budget! I looked at high efficiency top loaders, but was unimpressed with reviews. The 25 year life expectancy of the Speed Queen convinced me to give it a try.

I was concerned about the size of the Speed Queen, since it is so much smaller than my front loaders. I do laundry for 7, so I have lots to do!  The Speed Queen takes about 30 minutes to wash a regular load and a little longer for heavy duty loads. This is about half the time for my front loader. I can wash and dry two loads of laundry with the Speed Queen and my old Whirlpool dryer in about the same amount of time as one load it my front loader. Two Speed Queen loads are more than one front loader load, so the size hasn't been an issue. The Speed Queen will not wash a king size comforter, but I did wash a Queen comforter. It was a quite full, but it fit.

The Speed Queen only has three cycles; Heavy Duty, Normal, and Delicate. I wasn't happy to give up all the different options my front loader had, but honestly I probably used one of these three options 95% of the time anyway. I've had this washer for 7 months and I've not wanted a different cycle.

I feel that my clothes get cleaner in the Speed queen than they did in the front loader. I think it is because the Speed Queen fills up with water, so the clothes actually get to soak in the water. I also like that I can fill up the washers with water and pause the wash cycle so that the clothes can soak.

My only complaint is that the washer lid must be closed for the washer to fill with water. I like to add clothes while the washer is filling, so I googled it and found an easy way to modify the washer so that it will fill/run with the lid up. Just be careful if you also do this.

After 7 months of use, I can say that I really like this washer. It gets our clothes clean quickly. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the high efficiency machines, but it does what I need it to do: clean my clothes. The real test will be to see how long this machine lasts. I will update if it needs repairs or replaced.