Product review (1 stars): Beware the Whirlpool Cabrio!
The "Ides of March" (well, one day later) is a perfect time to warn anyone considering the purchase of this washer about the multitude of problems it will introduce into your laundry routine (which you can read about in reviews of other Whirlpool Cabrio models on Amazon and elsewhere). But here is a quick summary, which should be all you need to run screaming from this machine: 1) Clothing wrinkled like aluminum foil that has been balled up and opened (If you prefer to hang the majority of your clothes like I do, you'll want to get your iron ready); 2) Items coming out of the washer with dirt and stains remaining, as well as with lint and even, possibly, small holes (like the one in a fleece blanket I washed on the "delicate" cycle, or the one in my daughter's shirt that I made the mistake of washing on "normal," even though that is the appropriate setting for a sturdy cotton fabric; 3) Cycles that take at least an hour on average (so forget squeezing in a load before heading out the door or to bed); 4) The need to carefully load your clothes "doughnut style" around a washplate without letting any fall into the center; 5) A moldy smell that can develop if you don't run a special cleaning cycle every month or so--or, as I've heard, even if you do; 6) Operational problems and poor customer service from Whirlpool.

I can't comment on the last two items personally, since I am one of the people the reviewer above refers to, who fortunately replaced my disappointing Cabrio with a Speed Queen, the only fully mechanical, American-made (to last!) washer left on the market. (Speed Queen's main competitor used to be Maytag, until they were bought by none other than a company that begins with W.) My Speed Queen AWN412 is a complete 180 degrees from the Cabrio in every way. It looks and sounds like my grandmother's circa 1960 washer (complete with simple dials and a pull knob) and it functions like it, too, washing clothes thoroughly, without undue wrinkling and in half the time the Cabrio would take. Just beautiful.

Like my fellow reviewer said, don't be fooled by appearances and a fancy platinum panel of electronic buttons that are far more likely to malfunction--or the quiet, high tech noise that belies new but unimproved technology. It doesn't matter what your washer looks like--just that it cleans your clothes well. If you can't stand the traditional sounds of an agitator churning away, just turn up some music or sing Hallelujah that you don't have a high efficiency washer attempting to spin the dirt off your clothes at warp speeds. The bottom line, as I learned the hard way (and paid for, with a steep 20% restocking fee from a local appliance dealer--despite being oversold on the Cabrio), is that you simply need a tub full of water and an agitator to clean clothes properly (and there are multiple settings on the Speed Queen so that you can match that water level to your load size).

The government regulations that led to this new "green," low-water technology may be well-intentioned, but they are nonetheless misguided. As much as liked my previous Maytag, it died after 7 years--which is probably longer than I would have gotten out of the Cabrio. So to echo what a Speed Queen reviewer wrote on Amazon, the savings on energy and water with high efficiency washers is completely negated by the energy from manufacturing plants polluting our environment as they create appliances that break so quickly and end up in landfills. Not to mention having to rewash clothes that aren't clean, doubling the amount of water/energy use, and having to prematurely replace clothes that are destroyed. Or the increased use of your dryer--and iron--to remove wrinkles. Or the need for toxic cleaning agents to prevent mold (which undercuts the use of natural and organic products). So, it turns out, "high efficiency" does not equal "green" when it comes to washing machines, and it certainly doesn't equal "effective."

To those who are in the market for a new washer, do yourself a favor and pass on the flashy HE models. And to those who are stuck with one--Good Luck and God Speed (Queen)!