There are three Danby washers.
The one you see rave reviews about is the front-loader, DWM-500. It appears to be fairly small but apparently will handle large items well. I would guess it can handle somewhere 6# to 8# per load. It has a unique option for a 200 degree sanitize cycle: this is the washer you want to have if avian flu goes human/human contagious or if any other nasty bugs are going around. The other cycles cover the usual wide range of options of water temps and agitation speeds and so on. It has a high spin speed so you need less dryer time. Construction quality is rated exceptionally high. Performance (cleaning ability) is rated exceptionally high. Everyone who has one of these loves it. And the price is amazingly low compared to other front-loaders of equivalent quality; expect to pay between $450 and $600 for this one.
The other two, you don't see as much news about but they're still good machines.
One is the twin-tub, DTT-420. I've got this machine and it's excellent. Cleans as well as any top-loader I've used. Fast, efficient (low water & electricity consumption), reasonably quiet unless you load the spinner off balance. The gentle cycle is sufficient for almost anything; the "normal" cycle should be rated "vigorous" and is useful for loads of small items such as underwear & white socks. Has a conventional agitator operated similarly to a "pulsator," i.e. rotate, pause, reverse, pause, etc. The high-speed spinner (1400-1600 rpm) gets clothes dry enough to cut your tumble-dryer usage by half: big electricity savings there. Construction is a bit light but with care it should last as long as any other washer. The tradeoff with twin tub washers is that they're manually operated: you control the water levels from the sink faucet, transfer the clothes from wash tub to spin tub, and turn the knobs to set the times for each cycle (good oldfashioned clockwork timers), and you get your hands wet along the way
. There's a learning curve but then you can zip through loads in half an hour each. Load capacity is rated at 10# but realistically is 6# for mixed loads and maybe 8# for loads consisting of small items (underwear & t-shirts & socks). Spinner capacity is 4-1/2 # so you have to split the loads in the spinner but this is the case with all spin dryers. Price range is $250 - $350 depending on where you buy. This is probably the most efficient washer you can get at that price. Also the machine to get if you're off-grid and use solar or wind power.
The other is the compact automatic top-loader, DWM-99-W. Somewhat more compact than the twin tub because it doesn't have a separate spin dryer. Load size is slightly less than the twin tub because it has the standard concentric washtub design. Has a standard agitator, I don't know if it uses the "pulsator" type agitation or if the motion is continuous. Has basically two cycles, one of which is longer and has an extra rinse. Has a normal/gentle action selector, and a water level control, and, I think, a temperature control (hot/warm/cold washes). It would seem that the cycle times on this one are pretty quick also, as with most top loaders. Construction details are similar to the twin tub, i.e. a bit light but well-designed and should last if taken care of. People who have these are happy with them. If you're not sure what to buy but you want something that's familiar, this one's a safe bet. Prices are about $300 plus or minus a bit, depending on where you buy.
In general, Danby machines get good reviews; quality and performance are good, customer service is responsive, presumably that means parts are obtainable easily enough if needed.
In fairness to Haier, I suspect that some of the bad reviews on Haier machines are people who don't know how to use compact washers properly, i.e. who overload them and don't pay attention to what they're doing. It seems that Haier has also improved quality over the last couple of years. Also it's possible that some dealers were offering bottom-of-the-line models that use "gravity drain," which is common in places where you discharge the washer water into a floor drain (as with the old wringer washers), whereas people expect pumped draining so you can discharge used water into the kitchen or laundry room sink. The mid- to high- range Haiers of course have pumped draining. Prices are comparable to Danby. Haier also make a twin tub (larger capacity than the Danby but hard to find) and a front-loader.
Last but not least, compact washers of whatever kind aren't designed to do large items such as blankets for a large bed; those will still need to go to the laundromat and be washed in a large front-loader. But they will handle all your regular clothes, bed sheets, bathroom towels, and so on quite well, and pay for themselves in a year or at most two years with money saved on the laundromat. And of course you save time because you can do other things at home while the laundry is going.
There are other bits & pieces around this site about compact washers if you need more information. Let us know what you decide to buy and how it works for you; and if you need more advice either about buying or using a compact machine, feel free to ask.
