Product review (4 stars): Works well for our needs, cloth diapering
We purchased this washer as a floor model in mid-November of 2011. At the time of writing this review, I've been using the washer fairly heavily for about two months. Overall, I am quite happy with the machine so far.

I cloth diaper our son, so I was a bit nervous to purchase an HE machine because they use less water than a traditional machine, and lots of water is important for getting cloth diapers clean. My husband convinced me HE was the way to go, though, as we won't have kids in diapers forever and the energy and water savings over the long term should be worth it! Surprisingly, I LOVE it for washing the diapers.

For washing the diapers, I start with a cold run of the Bulky cycle (no detergent), which, if you read the manual, you will find uses more water than the other cycles. Then, I run a hot Bulky cycle (heavy soil with detergent) with an extra rinse. Unlike my old Maytag machine with a center agitator, I almost never have to adjust an unbalanced load on this one (only once in two months that I recall). On my old machine, I had to adjust each load of diapers 2-3 times on average. I also love the Extra Rinse option; it saves me a ton of laundry time by adding it to the end of the cycle automatically.

As other reviewers report, I have also found that occasionally with sheets, jeans, and other large items the machine will really twist up the items, even if you run it on the Sheets cycle which is supposed to help avoid twisting. When this happens, I just shake out the items before throwing them in the dryer, and they come out of the dryer just fine.

I use Arm & Hammer for Sensitive Skin detergent for all our washes. I generally try to follow the recommendations in the washer manual (zipping zippers before washing, etc.). I also add the extra rinse option to most washes, as with the baby in the house, I want to get as much detergent out of the clothes as possible.

It gets our stuff clean, even diapers when using the appropriate cycles! If you're having trouble getting items clean with it, maybe try the Bulky cycle to get it to use more water? I've also heard that wetting items or adding a wet towel to the load (making the load heavier) can "trick" HE machines into using more water. Haven't tried this yet, 'cause I haven't needed to!

I can't respond to the pet hair issues, as our poodle doesn't shed!