Product review (5 stars): Excellent value - Haier seems to be a very good brand
We were skeptical about portable washers, but decided to give one a try. We have two adults and cats, and sometimes our cats will throw up on fabric, and we need to soak the fabric for a little while to be sure stains come out. Our building has a (very nice) communal laundry room, but all of the washers are front loaders and cost the same amount for a load whether you fill the tub or not. This isn't a solution when you want to soak and  wash, say, just a single throw. That left only our tub or kitchen sink. Neither of those appealed: we'd wind up with a sopping wet throw (or other item) and there's no way that even a herculean amount of hand wringing would do the job. Carrying a soaking wet item down to the communal laundry room dryers....not!

However, our condo has no laundry hookups. We can install the plumbing, etc., to have laundry machines, but obviously, it costs to get that done. Also, we have only one area - the linen cabinet in our bathroom - where it made sense to consider installing hard plumbing and a machine. The answer was to do a test run and see if we even liked doing laundry here and could adjust our habits to doing more, but smaller, loads throughout the week instead of one big weekly laundry day, before shelling out for professionals to do all the infrastructure.

We found this washer on Craig's List. It was listed as used but the price was only $100, a fair price to pay to run our experiment. We were able to arrange it so this little thing fit right into the bottom half of our bathroom linen closet. We lost some storage in that area, but it was worth it (and forced us to finally weed out the old towels, etc., that we weren't using). Knowing we had adapted to doing laundry in our condo (in fact we LOVE being able to), we ordered the Summit SPWD1470C washer/dryer combo, and had plumbers and electricians in to give us quotes.

The thing is, while we're going to go ahead with a permanent installation, we've decided to return the Summit and just keep this little machine instead. We're quite fond of it, and that should give an idea of how well it works, how quiet it is, and how little space it takes. The Summit would stick out into our bathroom as it's deeper, and we'd have to build out the linen cabinet into the bathroom to enclose it behind doors. This little machine fits PERFECTLY behind the existing doors. Unless you look inside the closet, you'd never know we have a washer. That was a big consideration - we don't want to lose floor space, and we don't want the appliances being obvious.

But the other part of our decision was how gosh-darn well this washing machine works. It's a wonderful little machine. I came here and read every one of the reviews and I can confirm that every single review is spot on, the positive ones, that is - we've had no trouble with this, so our experience doesn't match that of folks who have written negative reviews.

The reviews, and the tips in the reviews, pretty much cover it all, so I have only three things to add:

1. Yes, the "Jingle Bells" IS annoying. I read a tip in one of the reviews of how someone had put a piece of foam or something over the "speaker" and it reduced the sound. We did that and now, with the linen cabinet doors closed, with a TV on or music playing, we don't hear the "Jingle Bells" at all (and this is in a 725 sq. ft. condo, so we're NOT far from the bathroom no matter where we are). We now set the timer on our microwave and when it goes off, sure enough, the Haier is done. So if the "Jingle Bells" annoys you, too, follow that tip about how to muffle the sound - it at least alleviates the aggravation.

2. Like a lot of people, we discovered that storing the hose that connects to the sink was a pain. We found a garden hose sold by Improvements Catalog that coils up by itself. It works GREAT. Fully stretched out, it's 25 feet long, which should be more than enough to reach any faucet. When coiled up, it drops easily down into the tub. The hose is something like $35, but it's worth every penny. Since it's made for using outdoors (on gardening projects), it's very durable and thick, so no worry about leaks.

(Actually, this tip about the coiled hose will work with ANY portable washer, not just this one.)

3. My last bit of advice is something that might be covered in the manual, but frankly, we haven't read it - no need to, the way this machine works is pretty obvious. I don't recall seeing this tip in any of the reviews, though I may just be forgetting. The spin cycle sometimes still leaves water in the very bottom of the tub, and clothes down there are still pretty wet. The solution is to turn off the faucet when the spin cycle starts. Or if you miss the start of the spin cycle, just run it a second time with the faucet turned off, and the water-in-the-tub-bottom problem will be history.

So, I can't think of a better recommendation than this: we have the ability to install a washer/dryer combo, but we have CHOSEN to instead stick with our Haier. There's really no need for a washer/dryer combo, since at 800 RPM, this Haier does a pretty good job of getting water out of the clothes, and second or even third spin cycle (with water off!!) REALLY helps a lot.

Other reasons we decided against the combo: condensing dryers use water in the drying cycle, and even though we live in Chicago and don't have the water shortages that California or Arizona has, why waste water *just* to dry clothes, when the air (and a fan) will do the job just as well?  Also, the combos generate heat during the drying cycle, and who needs extra heat in the summer?

BONUS: by not having a dryer built in, it's one less thing to go on the fritz. If our Vornado fan dies, we can just buy a new one...no taking a day off work to wait for a repair man (who probably won't even show - or call to cancel). Fans, space heaters, heated towel racks, etc. - all are low cost and if something needs replacing, you can do it yourself. If the fan breaks, you can still use the racks and space heater. If the space heater breaks, you can pull out the regular fan. It might slow you down a bit, but it won't bring your drying system to a screeching halt as would happen if the drying function in a washer/dryer combo, or stand-alone dryer, stopped working.

And fans and drying racks cost less to buy and operate than a dryer costs.

If you get heated towel racks, you get the bonus of warm towels in the morning. Heated towel racks are far less likely to break down than a clothes dryer and can be bought for as little as $100. Even the hard wired ones only cost a couple hundred (plus paying an electrician to install).

Add it all up, and for about 1/3 the cost of a washer and dryer (whether side by side, stacked, or all-in-one), you can get a very nice setup that will function well, and be EASY to handle repairs or replacements by yourself. If you move, you can take it all with you, and set it up again, whether or not your new home has washer/dryer hookups and venting (our condo doesn't - we'd have to pay for that, too).

If you have a house, or a large enough space to have a typical laundry center setup, go ahead and do what's best for you. But if you're an apartment dweller, or live in a smaller condo as we do, then saving space where you can is critical to having a nice living environment.

As for our little machine, of which we are so fond: given all the great reviews of it still working after five years, we hope to get a similar life out of ours. But even if we only get a year's worth before it breaks, we will just get a new Haier portable.

Bottom line: this machine is wonderful and we're sticking with it (and the Haier brand for portable machines) forever.

Sorry, Summit ;-)