Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me start off by saying for the last 16b months or so, my wife and I have been using the Panda Compact Washer & Spin Dryer available here from Amazon: Panda Small Compact Portable Washing Machine(10lbs Capacity)XPB45 -Larger Size We loved and used the s*** out of it, and it has held up absolutely great - it still completely works, but we decided it was time for an upgrade... so we measured our closet, cleaned out a bunch of other junk to make room, and pulled the trigger on this 11lbs fully automatic washer! If you're interested in the Panda Washer/Spinner, please take a moment to read through my review. That one's cheaper and easier to fit in a small closet due to its lower height and shorter depth from back-to-front. But it's not automatic: http://www.amazon.com/review/RGGD44UPNO2PL/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00KY5V4M4&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=2619525011&store=appliances If you have the Washer/Spinner, I'll state this upfront: DEFINITELY UPGRADE. The fact that you never have to deal with the rinse and spin cycles ever again is FREAKIN AMAZING. This washing machine works exactly like you'd expect a 'normal' washer to work. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: For those of you in apartment buildings -- This washer ships in a box that doesn't hide the fact that it's a washing machine. It's not exactly obvious, but if you have a landlord who really cares, you may have to find a way to be more sneaky. We spoke to our super, and explained that we wanted to get a "portable washer that hooks up to the sink, no installation necessary" and he said it was fine. So no sneaking around here. Compared to the Washer/Spinner combo machine, it's immediately apparent that this Fully Automatic Panda is an upgrade in quality. We never had an issue before, but while the Washer/Spinner is plastic, this seems designed to last. Even the buttons on the top seem like pretty high quality compared to some other relatively inexpensive electronics we've bought in the last year or so (i.e. our cheap microwave and a/c have plastic which after lots of 'presses' seems to separate away from the button). When it comes to measurements of the Fully Automatic washer, the dimensions listed here on Amazon are spot on. The height of the machine is fine for myself and my wife, and the two wheels on the back of the machine make it a LITTLE bit easier to move around than lifting (the wheels only help you go back and forth, not side to side). Unfortunately the machine's a bit too heavy to really be portable, so we parked it in it's spot in the closet, and likely won't be moving it for a long while. BASIC SETUP: The initial setup is VERY intuitive, and only took us a few minutes to get started for our first load. There is a standard three prong outlet plug, the included hose & sink adapter which perfectly fit our sink to add water, and a drain hose which hooked over the side of our bathtub. Just like our older Panda Washer/Spinner, I wanted to take this to the next level... I never want to move this from the closet (our "laundry room"), and since we don't have water hookups or drains in our apartment, we have to use the sink faucet, bathroom power outlet, and the bathtub. Most critically, the included plug and hoses won't reach any of these from our closet. So all of the parts I'm listing are here to help making it reach further. WATER HOSE: The box comes with a few excellent parts, but I didn't end up using most of them. It CAME WITH two (2) four-feet-long hoses (one for hot and one for cold, both are identical to each other), along with a Quick Connect Hose Adapter & a Sink Adapter, and a simple 'cap' for the hot water inlet if you're like us and hook up to the sink. Since we're hooking up to the sink, we really only need one hose, but the problem with the hoses for us is they're much too short. We did try our "expanding" garden hose the first time we tried it, but it's definitely not capable of holding the water pressure from the sink while the machine is running, and on disconnecting the built up pressure exploded water all over. So instead you'll definitely want to use a more solid hose, like the one included or a longer one. We ordered this one: "Washing Machine Hose Black Rubber, 12 Foot, Made in the USA " ~$17 Washing Machine Hose Black Rubber, 12 Foot, Made in the USA It's 12 feet long, and basically like a simple garden hose that's a little bit stronger and capable of holding up the extra water pressure. A regular standard "green" garden hose would probably be fine, but since we're in an apartment building I didn't want to risk it if something were to go wrong and flood our downstairs neighbors. Since we are pretty tight on space, and the hose connects to the back of the washing machine, I found that I had to pull the machine away from the wall a bit, and even then I had a problem with "kinks" in the hose. So I also got this hose elbow bend, which I connected to the back of the washing machine and it immediately let me back the washer up to the wall and eliminated the "kink" problems (cold water inlet... the hot is 'capped' with the included cover): "Camco 22505 90 Degree Hose Elbow" ~$4 Camco 22505 90 Degree Hose Elbow - Lead Free I just measured, and now the back of the machine is 2.5" to 3" away from the wall. Without the 90 degree elbow, it was 5"-6" minimum away from the wall to prevent hose kinks. We also already had a "DANCO" quick-connect hose adapter & sink adapter (which we bought last year at Home Depot), so I kept the older one set up because it matched our sink pretty well (... why fix what ain't broke, right?) All in all, the setup for water input was incredibly simple... and now we have an extra-long water input hose to the sink, and it takes only about 5 seconds to set up when we're ready to do the wash. WATER DRAINING: The water drain hose is longer on this machine than the Panda Washer/Spinner, which is nice... but still not long enough to reach our tub without us having to worry about it popping out. Also, when facing towards this Fully Automatic Panda Washer, the drain hose comes out of the LEFT of the machine, rather than the right side... which meant the hose had to reach even further to get to the tub. Fortunately, the diameter of the drain hose was exactly the same as our previous setup... so I literally just untightened the ring clamp off the older washer drain hose, and removed the barb adapter (hose connected and all), put it into the new washer's drain hose and tightened it up with the same ring clamp. Here's what I used: The adapter: Watts Nylon Hose Barb (A-591) Adapter 3/4" ID x 3/4" MH ~$3 Basically, this is two sided, where one side gets shoved into the drain hose of the washing machine. It's not perfectly snug, but it's close. With the plastic tape and clamp below, it's completely water tight. The other side screws onto a normal hose, and makes the setup extremely simple. Unfortunately this product isn't available on Amazon, but I found it at Home Depot, and Lowe's has it in their online store. It's plastic and only ~$2-$3. The closest thing I found to it on Amazon are these similar metal versions: Anderson Metals Brass Garden Hose Swivel Fitting, Connector, Barb x GHT Female Hose Orbit Underground 27180 Green Thumb Brass Male Hose Mender, 3/4-Inch Waterproof tape: TFE Pipe Joint Tape 1/2" x 520" ~$9 (and you have lots left over) This is very thin plastic non-sticky tape, which wraps over the ridges on the side of the "barb" adapter that goes into the Panda drain hose. I wrapped it over the ridges on the smaller side about 10 times, then forced it I to the drain hose. With this plastic wrap on the adapter, it's a very snug water tight fit. The home depot guy who helped us suggested we use this tape for any other parts that screw together that leak too. Oatey 15164 Hercules TFE Pipe Joint Tape Garden Hose: Apex 6' Leader Hose ~$11 This was simply the cheapest hose they sold at Home Depot. Any normal garden hose will do, but this one was our perfect length, and has a wide enough inner diameter to allow the water to drain quickly without issue. This screws onto the barb adapter attached to the built-in drain hose, and drains into our bathtub. It's small and light enough to store without an issue. Apex 887-6 5/8-Inch x 6-Feet Hose Reel Leader Hose The Ring Clamp: SS CLAMP 1/2"x1-1/14" Diameter ~$1 each This clamp fits over the built in drain hose at the end, over the plastic wrapped side of the adapter, to hold it in place tightly. It's not strictly necessary but it was less than a dollar at Home Depot. A simple plastic wire-tie (zip-tie?) could work well too. Here on Amazon they sell them in a 10-pack... and I'll be honest, these may be one of the most incredibly useful things I've bought. Breeze Power-Seal Stainless Steel Hose Clamp, Worm-Drive, SAE Size 12, 11/16" to 1-1/4" Diameter Range, 1/2" Bandwidth (Pack of 10) All of the new parts took about 3 minutes to put together... It's really not difficult at all. Now when we do laundry, I just grab the longer garden hose & feed it straight into the tub without moving the 'portable' washing machine at all! POWER: This is pretty simple, and what works for us may not be exactly what works for you. I set this up last year for our Panda Washer/Spinner, and it's still working for us with the new Fully Automatic washer today. A simple flat white extension cord to reach from our bathroom's outlet, along the floor edges, to our closet. The cable is flat so it fits underneath both doors at all times. I covered it with a cable cover that has a sticky back which keeps it all in place all the time. I went with white versions of each so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb in our white bathroom. Notes: I was able to use a simple wire cutter / scissors to cut the cable cover down to size to fit our space. The hardest part of the whole setup was getting the extension cable into the cable cover, and laying the extension cable down carefully in our bathroom so it stays in place. I bought the 15' extension cable, and it JUST reaches. I'd recommend a 20' to 25' one, but I couldn't find a FLAT white one, and the one I bought supports THREE outlets... which is perfect since I also just bought the Panda dryer for the same closet! Extension Cable: 15 ft. 16/3 Indoor Extension Cord for Tight Spaces. 15 ft. 16 guage/3 prong White Indoor/Extension Cord for Tight Spaces 3 outlets [Cable Cover: (I'm not sure if this was the exact one, but any should do) Legrand/Wiremold CordMate Channel- White Wiremold CMK50 Cord Mate II Kit THE DRYER: We paired our previous Panda 10lb Washer/Spinner, with the Panda 8.8lb Dryer. And it continues to work perfectly fine today. Even with this new 11lb Fully Automatic Panda Washer, I'll stuff the washing machine full, and everything that fits into the washer fits into the dryer without any problem. I can't stress this enough... this is an incredible dryer, highly recommended: Panda Small Mini Stainless Steel Tumble Dryer8.8lbs Compact Apartment Dryer Pan745sf You can read my review of the dryer here, and the accessories I used because it's an indoor dryer (with no external exhaust): http://www.amazon.com/review/R3EI30C99BSWIO/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00PIYEUHW&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=2619525011&store=appliances SUMMARY: So we're about a two weeks in with the new washing machine, and very much loving the fact that we never have to go downstairs to the apartment building's laundry room. I'd say my only MINOR complaint is that you cannot open the lid once it starts or it buzzes and gives you an error (E2). This means that if you use a washing detergent 'lid' to measure how much you're putting in, you can't rinse the lid in the washing machine because it stops the water from filling. So we may consider switching over the the detergent packs and just never worry about that again :-) THE BOTTOM LINE: Highly rated, highly recommended!