I have one of those horizontal axis top loader and it's simply great.
It's a "Drean Family" semi automatic model from Argentina, all made of plastic with stainless steel drum and plastic "hatch". It's tiny and handle full loads with ease.
Believe it or not it was incredibly cheap and works just great. They cycles are automatic, it fills washes, drains, rinse 3 times and drain. the only thing I miss is a spin cycle. The cycles are also fast (1 hour aprox. the longest) and I get clean clothes even using cold water (It has no heater).
And there's more, it has a softener dispenser able to flush even the thicker softeners.
Drean is very known in Argentina for their quality x excellent prices.
They also offer two automatic versions, probably built like the Mieles. The TOL version has 1000 RPM spin and many other features.
I'd love to have our friend Emilio Berisso or other argentinian members to talk more about Drean.