My only reservation with front-loading machines is that, from what I've seen in person and through several users' videos, it seems that larger loads of laundry seem to just roll in a ball back and forth. I've watched quite a few where the load was by no means oversized, but a few items just stayed in the middle of the "ball" the whole time. I'm also not crazy about how sealed the environment is. They have very high spin speeds, but usually the swirling vortex of air causes little pools of water to collect around the door seal and the window, and then at the very end when the machine tumbles and fluffs the load, that water just gets sponged back up by the clothes brushing against it. If I were to be given a nice FL or got an excellent deal on one, I would most certainly use and enjoy it, but I'd always have a TL as well. The FL would be excellent for comforters and items that just don't move around well in a TL machine.
I think the balling up of the load happens more in modern machines that only use enough water to get the load soggy but with not much water to slosh around. Sure, the intent behind these machines is not so much to cause the clothes to move around each other, but to allow the detergent to soak in, but I just prefer and feel more at ease seeing the clothes get agitated. With top-loading HE washers, as long as you follow the manufacturer's instructions and load the machine properly, there is usually no problem with rollover or "blooming" action. In addition to that the load's center of gravity stays close to the driveshaft, which keeps stress on the bearings to a minimum, in my opinion. There's also not really any place for the water to go but down, so any water "pooling" is mainly underneath the basket away from the clothes. In the end I think it all boils down to personal preference, and what pros and cons are more important to a person, because every machine ever made has had and will always have its strengths and its quirks.