Product review (4 stars): Generally good initial impression
We had a Duet previously, but the basket broke after nine years and parts alone would have been about half the cost of a new washer. Luckily one of the Amazon vendors had a good sale at the time, so I purchased this new model. Admittedly there are some tradeoffs involved in getting a major appliance via the Internet, but so far it's been a reasonably good experience.

There was one scare early on, when 15 minutes into the third load all of the panel lights went out except "Door Locked", which flashed rapidly while the water pump continued to run. Then after a couple minutes the washer shut down completely leaving wet laundry. I immediately called customer service. While the representative was unable to give an explanation for these symptoms, her advice to temporarily remove power and try again did the trick. In the 20+ loads since then we have not had this problem or any other.

The washer does make some interesting noises, though nothing very loud or objectionable. I've never seen a washer of any style be so smooth in the spin cycle. People having trouble in this regard should check for levelness and that all four feet are on the ground. Cycle times do seem a little longer than with our previous model, but I assume that's related to the quest for greater energy efficiency. Cleaning seems very good. Reliability is unknown, though the delivery people gave the Whirlpool brand a favorable remark, saying they don't pick up many of them as returns, unlike some other brands. Anecdotal, I know, but only time will tell otherwise.

*** One year update ***
We are just about through the first year of operation and have had no problems since that first day. Overall we are still very pleased with this washer.