Product review (5 stars): Must-have for apartments
I received this compact clothes dryer yesterday & am hoping the 5-star review is not premature. It arrived well-packaged & undamaged (no dents, the belts are working & the dryer heats properly). It was easy to unpackage & set up. I have placed it temporarily in my back bedroom to test it out (on a hardwood floor), and plan to move it to a well-ventilated utility room & either wall-mount the unit, or place it on a shelf. There are 2 controls on the front panel - a dial to select dryer time, and a push button with 2 settings - depress the button 1/2 way for a cooler temp, and fully in for the warmest setting. The push button confused me for my first test - it took me a few minutes to realize that the button had to be fully depressed to really warm up the dryer. Closing the door starts the dryer. I have dried about 8 loads of clothes since yesterday - the maximum number of pieces I dried is 20 (2 jeans, jean shorts, 3 hand towels, socks & a variety of t-shirts). I decided to check the lint filter about every 30 minutes & clean it out, to maximize efficiency. To check the filter, open the dryer & gently but firmly pull out the plastic filter basket (it's a disc that separates into 3 parts). I can see it is important to be very gentle when doing this to avoid damaging the filter, so just be careful when you snap it apart. The Panda runs reasonably quiet, dries gently & doesn't seem to overcook the clothes (like some commercial driers). I will work on improving the ventilation to the outside, as i have it venting just below a window that I opened about 4 inches, but the room feels a bit humid. I know a ventilation kit will help this. The only unknown at this point is the electrical bill. I will have to look at that next month & will post if the bill skyrockets. Of course, I can always save the drying for the nighttime hours. I am very happy that I no longer have to lug wet cloths from my upstairs Danby washer downstairs to the communal dryer outback! Overall, this seems to be a win for city dwellers!
4/6/2018 Heres an update from me about a year or so after I purchase this Panda Dryer. I still absolutely love this dryer. I use the dryer approximately 10 to 15 times per week. (We are a family of 6) That is to say, this dryer has been used A LOT by me. I have learned a few tricks, such as adding a small dry clean towel to the loads to quicken the drying process for the wet clothes, and occasionally I will line dry heavy items like towels or jeans for a couple of hours before tossing them into the drye to finish the drying. But other than that, I am using this dryer as it is intended, with a very heavy use. And it has never failed me! It will turn itself off temporarily  when it begins to get too hot. I believe this is a built-in safety feature. If I am home when this happens, I will open the dryer door, and let the clothes cool down for about 10 to 15 minutes. This releases the humidity in the dryer, too. Then Ill close the dryer door & starts right back up and continues to dry the clothes. I have vented this to a window with a simple dryer kit. Very easy to do. I also purchased a small wire stand to place the dryer on. Again, I want to state that I feel as though this was an excellent investment, and the day this dryer dies, I will immediately buy another one, because it has given me such great value. I highly highly recommend this for apartment dwellers, and anyone who wants a space saving appliance.