Product review (3 stars): Multi-Part Review
July 2016 update: After using the Panda for a few months, below are some updated observations.

Filling: Purchasing a diverter with hose and hand-held shower head helped quite a bit. Unfortunately, though, the hose (which appears to be pretty standard in length) is just baaaaarely long enough to reach the washer's tub, even with the Panda right up against the bathtub. This forces me to have to stand with one foot in the bathtub to make it work. Climbing in and out of the bathtub repeatedly is not my idea of convenience. I know it's not the Panda's fault that the hose isn't long enough...I mention it because it demonstrates how much finagling needs to be done to successfully use this machine.

Drainage: Like another reviewer suggested, I took to elevating the Panda by placing it on top of a plastic tub right in the bathtub. This helps employ gravity to drain and also helps with filling the washer's tub by getting it closer to the filling source, but it's a pain in the neck having to lug the machine up and down like that. With this arrangement, I can't leave it unattended at all for fear of it shimmying itself off its temporary pedestal during operation. It's a labor-intensive, hands-on way to wash. Yes, it's an improvement over washing by hand, but not vastly so.

Washing: I find that this machine is hard on clothes. I've only been washing and rinsing for 1 minute each, respectively.

I find myself not using the Panda very much. Really, only for "emergency" mid-week loads. Knowing what I know now, I think I would have been better off buying separate counter-top washer and spinner units. They would do basically the same thing but be much easier to maneuver and store.

Downgraded from 4 stars to 3.
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April 2016: This is the first of a multi-part review.

My previous machine was a Haier (http://www.amazon.com/Haier-HLP21N-Pulsator-1-Cubic-Foot-Portable/dp/B002UYSHMM?ie=UTF8&ref_=cm_cr-mr-title) that lasted 6 years. I wrote a review/update each of those years and will do the same with this machine.

Tonight I tried it out for the first time and below are my impressions.

Drain set-up: I had a bit of a challenge with the drain hose at first. I tried hooking it over the edge of the bathtub then over the edge of the sink, but the narrow u-shaped hook didn't fit. In my case it definitely had to be placed over the toilet edge. Once I hooked it there and closed the seat and lid, I finally felt confident to leave it semi-unattended during the drain cycle.

Intake set-up: The intake hose seems like it might only work with a standard kitchen faucet. In my very average builder-grade bathroom, it wasn't ideal. I had to stand there and manually shove the nozzle onto the faucet and clutch it while a bunch of water uselessly flowed over my hand and into the sink. Filling the machine took longer than I would have liked. Unless you plan to use this with a fairly small faucet head, you should think about finding another way to fill the wash tub. Personally, I'm following the advice of the top reviewer and buying a diverter and hand-held shower head; if not for that, a bucket would be preferable for a bathroom set-up.

Detergent: Wow...you really only need like a teaspoon of regular detergent, if even that. This machine really suds things up. I'm going to buy HE detergent in the hopes of cutting down on the rinse process.

Noise level: Impressively low! The videos make the machine sound much louder than it actually is (no fault of the videographers). In particular, if you properly balance the spinner, it will practically hum.

Overall time: The agitate and spin cycles are vigorous enough that only a few minutes each is required.

Spin-dry feature: Clothes come out drier than any other machine I've ever used.

Drainage: This is the only real complaint I have thus far. The drain motor isn't strong enough to completely empty the machine. At one point I had to move the hose around to sort of prime it. At another point, I lost my ever-loving mind and actually sucked on the end of the tube, which worked but OMG don't do it. In the end - in order to thoroughly drain the entire machine - I had to raise it and use gravity before tucking it away into the closet. But, this is a small complaint in light of the bigger picture (price, convenience, etc.).

So far so good! Updates to follow.