Condenser vs Exhaust
The use of a heat exchanger in modern condensers eliminates the problem of moisture venting into the room - it is a "closed-cycle".
The difference between ambient room temperature - about 75° or so and the 175° or hotter inside of the dryer is more than enough to produce condensation. The air coming out of the drum is, after all, saturated. It wants to dump some of that moisture and any "cool" surface will do.
No one who has ever used a traditional, vented US dryer would ever want to use anything else. When you can't vent, then the condensers are the only alternative. They don't need 240V lines because the amount of moisture they can condense at any given time is so limited that the heat of a 2.4 Kw element like mine has is perfectly adequate.
Loud, slow and energy consuming they are and remain.
Of course, when you consider the absurdly low spin speeds most American washers have, then you understand why the US dryers work so well - they have to.
My AEG is the "modern" Electrolux variation, it is true - quieter and better built than my old AEG. I don't even want to talk about the Whirpool stuff anymore. Whoever thinks it is great stuff, go for it. What do the consumer guides know, after all? They are probably all owned by all the other manufacturers who just gang up on poor Whirlpool.
This is not a European problem, this is the result of US consumers accepting the last piece of s*** from the manufacturers. Our grandparents would never have tolerated the junk being dumped on the US market today. Buy American, sure - but why should folks who buy American be punished for it with the stuff on offer in the States? They work hard for their money, it is a real pity...