I recently purchased this, though not from this vendor. My living space is on the top floor and the laundry area is down 2 winding flights of stairs. Someone suggested that if I could do laundry without having it pile up, my life would be easier. So now, this is the first week I have had this installed. Admittedly, I never have overly high expectations of machinery, but I am more than happy with this.
The instructions for the washer are fairly detailed. I ran into trouble over the sink hook-up, just because I did not understand standard terminology. When a friend came in to help, it took him all of 15 minutes (or less). Everything was tightened with a wrench, plus he tied the two hoses (in and out) with a fastener to position them securely. I ran the first load 5 minutes later. No leaks, in spite of what you might have read in other reviews of the same product.
I am not a big person and tonight, the load (at medium, the default setting) was:
1 pair of long pants
1 flannel pajama shirt
1 cotton sweater (in a laundry bag)
1 blouse
4 pairs underwear and 4 pairs of socks (in separate mesh laundry bag)
2 T-shirts
After reading many reviews, I leave it on the medium setting and don't overfill it. I also got these laundry bags to protect the clothing. The spin cycle does a good enough job so the clothes dry within 12 hours on a rack in the bathroom. It is also easy to hook and unhook from the sink, and comes with wheels that you can choose to install.
I am ***very*** happy with the ease of use, convenience, portability, small footprint.
January, 2012:
Update: Towards the end of the warranty period, there was suddenly a spark and the whole thing went dead. In spite of what you may read elsewhere, I did reach a real person when I called the number listed on the instruction manual. A local authorized repair person was despatched who diagnosed it as the motherboard having a short. Haier was supposed to send the repair rep. a part, but I heard nothing, until a call several weeks later from Haier, saying they were going to replace the washer outright. There were things I had to do and instructions to follow, like cut the piping etc. etc., cut a label, include this and that. When this was followed to a "T", I did receive a new washer, again some weeks later. This immediately malfunctioned and water overflowed. It was a huge mess and somewhat of an emergency. Because I could not wait, I did not call the company but took care of it with my own repair guy. We switched the water level sensor (wrong part on the new one!) with the one I had saved on the old machine. Since then, it has worked beautifully. However, should this malfunction again, I may look for another brand To cut a long story short: 1. Save all documentation. 2. The product is inconsistent. Why would the new washer immediately malfunction with an INCORRECT PART? This was troubling. 3. If you are not in a hurry to get it repaired, then Haier does come through. 4. If Haier replaces the machine, save the old one for parts, if you possibly have room. It is because of these hassles and the malfunctioning that I have downgraded the 5-star to 3.