I agree. With the exception of Indesit/Hotpoint's distribution washes on certain cycles, most of these special programs seem to be so similar to a standard cycle, they might aswell have not added them. I use cottons 40 & 60 99% of the time, with Synthetics 40 or 50 the remaining 1%. Nothing else gets used. Though gladly, Zanussi seem to have so far avoided alot of the pointless crap & stuck to Cottons, Synthetics, EasyIron, Delicates, Wool, Mini Load & the odd Sports wear program so no problems here.
I also find it quite sad how many people ive seen selling a 2 or 3 year old 7kg drum machine as they 'need a bigger drum'. Why the hell does a normal household 'need' a bigger drum than 7kg. If they manage to fill a machine bigger than 7kg then it says to me they need to put washing on more often, not just buy a huge machine.
Also, they coped fine with the 5kg drums for years, why the need to double it now? I'll admit, i like the extra space our Zanussi Essential 6kg has, and would consider a 7kg just so theres space for everything to move around when washing double or king size bedding, or the occasional throw/curtain. But anything bigger than 7kg surely isn't ever going to be used sufficiently to justify the purchase.
Same with the obsession with huge spin speeds. People don't seem to realise that a Miele with a 1300 spin will probably still leave washing dryer than a Hoover with 1600 spin becauseost of the machines that have the stupidly fast spins aren't build with good enough parts to carry it off. Its all a big con i reckon.
1200 spin & 6 or 7kg will do me fine thanks!