GE GTW680BSJWS Top Loading Washer with Stainless Steel Basket, 4.6 Cu. Ft. Capacity, 14 Cycles, White

In the stores and reviews, this appeared to be the best machine for saving water and energy within a moderate income. I've have the machine for over a year and regret the purchase almost everytime I use it for more than a small load of shirts and delicates. On the regular cycles, water only sprays on the clothes....the ones at the bottom get wet; those on top may get wet or stay dry. The clothes only swish back and forth so the material on top never gets close to the water with the detergent. When doing sheets and towel or any larger item, I always use the deep fill cycle so that there is sufficient water to cover and clean. It is also necessary to use the additional, second rinse function since the detergent does not seem to dissipate in the normal rinse cycle. Due to its design, any larger load, such as one set of sheets or two towels will cause the machine to go off balance during the spin cycle and either "walk" or clunk frantically and stop. At the end of the spin cycle, the sheets and towels are too damp and are usually hung to air dry for an hour or more prior to being added to the dryer. The multiple functions appear to be a selling point, but it is not possible to reset any dials to lengthen the wash cycle or add a second spin. It is programmed to do only what it does and will not allow for human intervention to lengthen a cycle once the sequence has begun. I thought I was being a wise and ecologically mindful consumer when purchasing this machine, but have discovered that it does not live up to its function of adequately washing larger items or loads.

The media could not be loaded.    The troubleshooting section of the manual states that if the problem is 'Washer seems too quiet', then the possible cause is 'Quiet by design'. Clearly, these are not technical writers, but comedians.The sounds generated by this machine are perturbing and loud. How loud? At 1 meter in a tiled hallway, the sound pressure levels I measured were:: wash: 77 dBA, spin: 72 dBA. That's as loud as my cyclone vacuum cleaner at full power. The difference is that the GE sounds like power lawn equipment. My prior 4 washers were much quieter. My LG spins at a much higher speed than this GE, and it stays relatively steady. During spin, the GE, even with no load, shakes excessively and rattles. The machine is leveled along 2 axes, and all 4 feet are in contact with a hard floor. I attached a short video of the GE washer during wash and spin cycles.This washer has a tendancy to go off balance with small loads. There is no sensor to stop the motor when this happens. The basket continues to spin, and bangs against the side panels. The GE technician told me this was not a defect, just the design. It is inconvenient being on standby when doing laundry. Other washers I've used hardly ever have this problem, and in addition they have a sensor to detect the off balance condition.This machine does have some features that many new HE machines do not, such as deep fill and warm rinse. But I consider them non-features since they negate the energy efficiency of an HE machine, and other top rated machines clean clothes just fine without them.Based on professional reviews, the top scoring washers were from Samsung and LG. However, actual consumers, having long-term experiences, reported issues with those brands, ranging from machines getting stuck trying to balance the load, to machines that exploded. I settled on this GE as a compromise, since it has pretty good reviews from professionals and pretty good reviews from consumers.Thus far, this GE looks like a loser. It's not as good as my LG washer, and not as good as my retired "real" Maytags made in Newton, Iowa. In summary, the various symptoms of this machine point to larger design flaws, and I don't expect it will be as durable as my previous machines.

I've used the washer now for two weeks. It's a little on the noisy side sometimes but I knew that going into the purchase. Everything works as well or better than expected.

After reading many reviews about washing machines before making a decision, I decided to purchase this GE washer. I've always liked GE products, but after owning one of their previous HE models for about four years and being terribly disappointed with it's performance I almost purchased a competitor's product. I'm happy that I didn't.Note that this is not a paid review.Now for the review:Cleaning - 4 stars. This top load HE washer gets clothes clean. I would rate my previous GE HE at two stars, so a great improvement. I considered going back to an agitator washer but worried about capacity and the detrimental effect that an agitator has on clothing. The only reason I didn't rate a 5 is that I haven't tried to clean grass stains yet. It's winter time here so I have no grass stains to work with.Capacity - 5 stars. The 4.6 Cu. Ft tub has plenty of room for larger articles, including a king size quilt that I recently washed. The last load washed consisted of 4 pairs of jeans, a pair of work pants, 6 shirts, including a 2X flannel shirt and a 2X sweatshirt, and a few pairs of socks. There are settings on the washer for washing jeans separately from other colored articles, but that isn't the way we wash laundry in our household.Features - 5 stars. As mentioned above, there are plenty of settings for your laundry, 13 total, including one to sanitize with Oxy. There six water temp settings, four levels of cleaning (light through extra heavy), and four levels of spin cycle from no spin through max. All are controlled with easy touch buttons. If that seems like a lot of choices, no worry. You can set the "my cycle" button to remember your settings. I especially like the slide out detergent and softener dispenser tray located at the top of the tub that mixes the detergent with the load as the washer fills. This also makes cleaning easy, although I've washed more than 30 loads and there is no residue showing yet. If you've experienced clothing stains in the past from fabric softener dispenser build-up, worry no more. For those who remember warm water rinse, that feature has also returned with this model. There is also a "deep fill" button, which I use frequently. Press that button and 5-6 more gallons of water are added. I like to see my clothes bathing in water. Also included is a "deep rinse" button, recommended for use with fabric softener. This uses a bit more water and increases cycle times over the 34 minutes they boast about, but I feel more at ease. The glass top makes it easy to see what is going on in there.Noise - 3 stars. This compares to 1 star on my previous washer. I don't worry a lot about noise as my washer isn't setting next to the television. It does make some odd noises during the wash, also not a bother to me.One drawback is the dreaded walk that washers sometimes do. The only time I've experienced this issue is when the load became unbalanced on the king size quilt. If this happens, press the pause button and wait about 30 seconds for the lid to unlock to situate the items in the tub.The washer "walk" and the fact that I haven't tried to clean grass stains yet is my reason for rating at 4 stars instead of 5. I could have spent up to $200 more for another competitor's top load or twice as much for a larger capacity front load but I'm happy that I didn't. We aren't a large family and the 4.6 capacity is plenty enough for us. If you fall into that category, do some shopping for the lowest price and I think you'll also be pleased.