Product review (5 stars): Excellent clothes washer!
Maytag Bravos Top Loading Automatic Washer - MVWB700VQ

When our old Maytag top-loading washer died, we bought this Bravos  MVWB700VQ.

Here's a review of the Bravos from my wife, who does all the laundry in our house:

After some research on the internet, I decided to purchase a top-loading washer versus a front loading model.  Consumer Reports ratings said this machine was quieter and didn't vibrate nearly as much as a front loader.  Plus, I like to fold up my laundry on top of the washer/dryer set.  A drawer accessory on the bottom allows you to comfortably load/unload a front loader, but then the top is too high to use the machine as a table.

My old Maytag washer was very loud and vibrated so much, it sometimes moved across the floor.  I expected washing machines would be a lot better than the last one I bought in 1994, but was pleasantly surprised at how well my new Bravos works.

Pros

The Spin Cycle (especially on "max extract") gets most of the water out of the clothes. Our dryer has a broken dry sensor switch - so I time dry all laundry.  With my old Maytag washer, an average laundry load took 50 minutes to dry.  With the Bravos, clothes are dry after only 35 minutes.  It also makes doing laundry easier because the dryer is now done before the next load is washed.

Quiet.  My old Maytag was so loud, I had to keep the door to the laundry room closed to contain the noise.  The Bravos is so quiet that for the first few weeks I would keep returning to the laundry room to make sure it was still on!

Dispensers. There are three built-in dispenser cups, for detergent, softener, and bleach.  Wash water is automatically diverted through each cup, which keeps them spotless.

Clear Top.  I like being able to see what the machine is doing.  E.g., you can watch the water being routed through each dispenser, or see when a load is seriously out-of-balance. The clear area is 19" wide and 14" deep.  However, the top is polycarbonate, not glass, so it will scratch.  Be careful sliding laundry baskets across it for example.

No Agitator "post". The Bravos couldn't be easier to load or unload since there is no agitator post to get in the way.  Instead, there is a small agitator on the bottom of the drum, with some raised areas on it to help move the clothes around.

Super Size Drum. It is amazing how much laundry I can do in one washer load.  The drum is 22" in diameter and 19" deep, and it's perforated stainless steel.  The drum opening is 17" in diameter with no obstructions.  I've read about other Bravos owners having trouble with bulky or uneven loads.  I do take care to make sure the laundry is pretty well balanced around the drum - but I don't spend more than a couple of extra seconds doing that and have not experienced any problems.

Clean Clothes. Of course, the main issue for a washer is how well it performs.  When watching through the glass top, you wonder how clothes get clean at all with the small amount of water the washer uses.  During the wash cycle, the drum makes a full rotation clockwise and immediately reverses (counter-clockwise) a full rotation to swish the clothes around; both rotations take under a second.  It endlessly repeats this agitation during the wash cycle and it works, because the clothes come out super clean.  I do a lot of gardening, which for me means getting down in the dirt and grinding it in my pants legs, socks, and everywhere else.  I throw these grimy clothes in the washer without any pre-treating of any kind and they all come out clean and bright.

Energy Savings. The Bravos is an Energy Star appliance due its reduced use of electricity and water.  But it also saves energy with your dryer due to reduced drying time.  I save more energy by using cold water in both the wash and rinse cycles.  That's not what Maytag recommends - in fact the machine provides dozens of combinations using hot, warm, and cold water in the various wash and rinse cycles.  But I find that with today's modern detergents and the impressive washing ability of the Bravos, that cold water is all I need to get perfectly clean clothes.  My preference for cold water washing also affected the model Bravos I purchased; i.e., the 800 model has a steam clean option, but it's an extra hundred bucks.

Easy to Read Display. We decided to look at this model in person before ordering it.  At one store, we saw a Whirlpool Cabrio, Sears Elite, and several versions of Maytag Bravos; all of which appeared virtually identical except for the control panel.  (Which isn't surprising, since they are made by Whirlpool Corp.)  The Bravos panel is the easiest to read, as controls are logically arranged, have good contrast, and are well lighted.  The Sears Elite control panel was difficult to read since the selections were printed in dark blue on a lighter blue background.

Cons

I like to throw clothes in the washer as they accumulate instead of tossing them in the laundry sink.  So after dinner I collect the dirty tea towels and place mats and take them to the laundry room at the same time I take the trash out.  The only thing I don't like about the Bravos is that whenever you lift the lid of the washer, the machine turns on - the control panel lights up and the little signal bell dings a few notes; when you press cancel, it dings again.  Not a big deal, but it is irritating.