Please help - opinions on new washers in the UK

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nickuk

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Sep 15, 2005
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chelmsford UK
Hello

I wish to buy a new washing machine. I will spend around the £500 mark.

Features that interest me....quietness (quieter than Zanussi), reliability, durability, ability to wash a double duvet at a push. Ability to do a decent wash for normally soiled clothes in an hour or so. Ability to do a 50 degrees wash. Decent wool / handwash. A machine which always takes down any detergent you feed it and doesn't leave it in the drawer. Ditto for softener - doesn't leave too much gunk in the dispenser. I don't like machines which are silly about balancing, but I don't want to hear it thump-thump-thumping either. I find the LGs make quite an annoying noise like this on spin start up as the suspension flexes. A machine whose fascia writing doesn't wear off! The Zanussi now offers a choice of `spin spee..' and `tem era ures' lol after just three years with the occasional wipe with Fairy.

Features that don't interest me....spin speeds of more than 1100/1200 rpm....loads of bells and whistles...just want a great basic machine without too many annoying habits.

A sensible machine for a sensible price. I don't want to waste my money on rubbish, but I don't want to pay for extras I don't care about. For this reason my choice would be a Miele Premier 520 ar £478 from an oline retailer, as I feel it's probably the best build quality for the money. That's not the only factor though. Is there quieter, for the money? Is there a decent larger capacity machine for the money?

What are your opinions please?

Thanks in advance for your input

Nick
 
Hi Nick,

My number one choice for your needs would be the Premier 520, or perhaps the W1512 which for a similar price has slightly more flexibility (e.g. 50*C temperatures on cottons as well as minimum iron, as well as the ability to do a deep fill delicates wash at up to 60*C and several "novelty" programmes such as denim, dark garments etc). Though they are slightly louder then the more expensive Miele's which use brushless motors, they are by no means obtrusive and no louder than any other machine you could get for the same price... I've seen my friends Premier 520 running and it is quieter than his old AEG 74630 which already was a quiet machine. In terms of the the dispenser, I've always had liquid left behind now that liquids are concentrated nowadays no matter what machine I've used and the Miele doesn't solve that problem. However, using powder & tabs and using the dosing device as one should for liquids I've never had a real problem with detergent dispensing.

You can get a decent AEG, or even a high end Bosch or Siemens machine for a similar price but I feel, if it's build quality you are looking for then the Miele probably is the way to go. But bear in mind £500 can buy you a 7 kilo 80000 series AEG - however at this level you are getting the bells and whisltes (e.g. the LCD display), and from having both an AEG and a Miele run side by side the Miele is quicker, more efficient and just seems to be a better machine. Plus I've had that mystery tearing issue with the AEG (holes have stopped appearing raadomly on laundry now I've been running everything through the Miele), as well as the occasional problem of the AEG refusing to tumble on a 40*C cottons wash and noisy bearings after only 3 years of light use.

The Bosch Exxcel machines seem quite interesting, a lot of features for the money and have a 7 kilo capacity, but whilst it does have an aqua plus button for more water, the one we had was ever so measly on water consumption and it showed through hairs & lint being left on the laundry as well as a strong detergent smell, even with Rinse Plus selected. So with your young son, I'm not sure whether or not that'll be a concern for you.

The Maytag-Asko machines would be another option, however they don't have a wide service/parts network I believe so as tough as these machines are, if there ever was a breakdown you'll probably be safer going with one of the more widespread brands. But these do indeed have the "cool" factor that other machines don't have, and I believe they do have quite short cycle times - if I'm right in remembering they're flexible in giving you 4 cottons washes which take about 30, 60, 90 or 120 mins.

Hope everything is going well for you!

Jon
 
Premier 520

Miele! Get a Miele!

I dont see the point in the high end AEG's because your getting the same drum, bearings motor etc juts paying silly amounts extra for 400rpm extra in the spin and some flashy lights and maybe an extra 1kg drum space..... 2 pairs of jeans is hardly worth paying £200 for if the other features dont matter to you.

Like yourself I dont care for a spin more than 1200rpm, its too much on the fabric and Im convinced any faster and it compromises the bearing reliabilty and indeed the motor.

The Miele Premier 520 will out live the AEGs at least 3 times I feel and the features are aplenty even for the basic machine. Whilst im not knocking Jons Miele :-) I feel programmes such as the novelty ones mentioned above are a tad pointless although I cant really say much because I dont know fully what they do.

However Ive washed my jeans on 40*c Non Colourfast cottons for years and they look, wear and feel just how they should. Im not sure about why a jeans cycle would appeal to someone.

like I say im not knocking it I just dont personally understand the logic in it :-)

HOWEVER I like the idea of the pillow wash spinning the air out of the pillow first in theory although id love to see it in action to judge whether or not id use it.

The 520 is my modern dream machine and closest to the reliability, wash cycle options and water usage of a typlical 80's machine I will ever get. I dont have a need for push button controls, im at my happiest swizzing a dial round in the course of programme selection.

shame the dial does not click round..... tut tut lol.

Just my tuppence anyway, hope it helps.

Nick
 
machines

There are many wonderful machines outthere and from what youve described you, in my opinion have four choices

1. Reliability ( work horse) = Miele
2. Stylish look (for in kitchen) = bosch
3. Felixibilty ( 50degrees and high water level) = hotpoint
4. Decent wool wash (actually cleans them) = Hoptpoint

Enjoy picking
I only wish we could have a systme where by you could try and test any machine for a month before we by them.
 
Hi Nick,
If your thinking longterm in this day and age the miele is going to win. I love going round jons to see his and they are a great compramise between quality and economy. However i would like to defend AEG for a moment.

We've had an AEG washing for 3people, doing full loads just about everyday and it's now approaching its 4th year. It has NEVER gone wrong. It is very solid and very flexible. Do not discount them. I would like to upgrade to the 7kg model but i feel i could wait until this dies as its 5kg is rather generous.

My model doesnt have fancy programmes, it has 50degree cycles, A time remaining indicator. the writing on the fascia is behind a plastic trim and looks brand new.

They don't mess around too much balancing, my model has a spring loaded foot for added stability at high speeds. Its balance sensor is great. If whilst at distribution speed the load became fairly unbalanced it will carry on tumbling at a fractionally lower speed and then back up to distribution to resolve it. and will usually spin if the load is fairly unbalanced starting off slow and gradually increasing to even the load out.

I've used a ton of different detergents and all wash down the dispenser well, though atm i'm using ariel liquitabs so thats not an issue.

I didnt hear you mention rinse ability which is important with modern machines. AEGs and like Miele you can programme for a more satisfactory rinse either Rinse + on my model which adds 2 rinses and increases water levels. Or on models like jons AEG and the newer high end ones you can press sensitive which really adds some water and extra rinses. You can also combine this with Rinse + which will give you an addition rinse. Which is similar to water plus on a miele which you have different varations of as jon explained to me from higher water, to higher water with an extra rinse or really high with an extra rinse.

To agree with jon the bosch exxcels are also an excellent choice, my brother has a basic classix 1200 which from doing aload for him on the weekend i had noticed they'd improved on them from when i had a bosch.

The cycles are set standardly to be fast (about an hour and 5minutes). They have a ridiculously high level delicates and handwash programme. They are many jets in the dispenser so everything washes down. The option buttons are;

Washplus for your 2hour cycles for heavy soil.

Prewash

Reduced creasing-800rpm spin that takes about 20minutes with intermittent tumbling and pulse spinning.

Aqua plus- This was what i was most interested in. Aqua plus increases the water level and adds 2 rinses. Which is nice. I ran a cycle with this and i noticed they'd improved the intermittent spins, they accellerate a little quicker than they used too and i think they spin about 1000rpm. so 5 interm spins and rinses is a pretty good result at the end. The water level comes up to the seal. Different cycles make it higher.

It washes quite nicely on a standard cotton 40, It heats fairly fast, washes quitely with a nice tumble speed. The spin is quiet. The pump noise lets it down abit however i say that my brother does have 5 dogs their hair gets everywhere!

And of course on the exxel model you have the display with variable spins and temps with time remaining indicator!

I would say get another zanussi to you nick but i dont know how keen you would be too do that.

Hope this has helped.

Darren
 
My 2 penneth

Hi Nick

I think most things have been said here and I would definately go for a Miele if I was you. Ideal for the family and they are generally quiet.

Noise wise, I have to say the Bosch I have is very noisy. The motor really screeches and is very high pitched. Unfortunately there are not many induction motor machines anymore, apart from perhaps some of the Hotties. Not sure on the noise level of other machines.

Good luck with your search though

Rob
 
bosch

I have a new bosch excel 6kg machine. Water plus makes for some good splashy washes although there is a display panel on this machine. 50 Degree option and the ability to spin easycare cycles at 1200 which is good as you get the best of water level and fast spin.
All in all a good workhorse and mine was only £400 therefore you could save some money and treat your self to a matching dryer aswell
 
Thanks, this is all really interesting!

I am becoming more interested in the Bosch - Darren, your description of a Classix doing the 5 high rinses with spins sounds great. Luke had eczema and I was confined to Persil nb tabs with him, so the next baby will likely be the same I guess. And cbosch, I LOVE the idea of having a no iron cycle with splashy stuff and the chance of a fast spin. You are so right about having a matching a tumble dryer too - the cheapest Miele dryer I can find is like £450, and to be brutally honest I have very little interest in tumble dryers. I do plan on buying one, my criteria is that it's vented (I'm so fed up with noisy, leaky condensers and dripping water everywhere when I change the thing. Oh, and... when you approach the dryer an hour later wanting to unload nice fluffy towels only to discover it ran for 10 minutes and then stopped, showing `empty water' GRRRRRR!!

We have a Bosch at school, maybe 3 years old, which is quite screachy on spin. Rob, tell me more about your Bosch and the noise and cbosch, do you find yours noisy?

Really appreciate all the input - thanks. Jon, that more expensive Miele would certainly be preferable but I've lived without those options this long so I'll just have to make to. Sophie has a kind of £500 cut off point, and TBH it's good of her to agree to a new machine at all when we don't really even need one I just fancy one ;-)

Nick

BTW Sorry I just can't consider a Hotpoint washer...they are not yet forgiven for the 2004 nightmare I had with them....
 
Nick, from what I've seen on this thread it seems that the new Bosch machines maybe a safe bet then. You do have to be careful as some of the cheaper ones are Spanish made (I know the last Classixx series was, I'm not sure about the current Classixx range though), but from cbosch's and Darren's comments I think there wouldn't really be any issue with rinsing with the aqua plus button. You have to remember to take my experience with a pinch of salt, as my Bosch was a 2002/2003 model and the only real reason it was dumped was because the electronics were messed up from it being left out in the rain for a week thanks to some very courteous builders, as well as being shoved around without transit bolts. The only real trouble I ever had with it was the rinsing issue and the lack of a 50*C wash, which the new Exxcel machines have. Only other thing that annoyed me about it was the door lock where you had to wait 1 minute for it to unlock, but again that's a minor niggle.

I still feel the Miele is better for build quality & "smoothness" (if you get what I mean), but the Bosch we had never vibrated and wasn't too fussy with balancing either. Filled as the spins slowed down too, so a nice vintage touch there :-).

In terms of the extra programmes on the Miele, I have to say the only one I really do use is the Denim programme as it washes in an hour, with a deeper water level and quite vigorous & thorough washing action. Dark Garments is nice, basically a cottons programme with 40rpm tumbling and a medium wash level, but to be honest both programmes aren't anything I would miss and are only a bonus - and often out of laziness I just put jeans and darks in on a cottons 40 anyway. However if you were to purchase a Miele, what I'm trying to say is that with the W1512 you would get more features for the money as IIRC there is only £10 difference or so between the price of the Premier 520 and the W1512.

In terms of extra programmes actually, I believe the Bosch Exxcel machines have a lot of the extra programmes the Miele machines have. So you won't be missing out either way really. However the Bosch Exxcels sell for a similar price to the Miele 520, so the choice doesn't really get any easier! lol.

All the best,

Jon
 
Some of the special progs on the bosch exxcels are;

Sensitive-Which works a little bit like aqua plus with raised levels and prolongs the maximum wash temp and adds an extra rinse.

sports cycle-this ones about 30degrees i think

super quick- only 15 minutes...yikes.

mixed load!-Ahh reminds me of my hoover!

cottons stains plus- more vigerous than the normal cottons stains prog.

Darks prog-Raised wash and rinse levels to stop white deposits on seems etc of dark clothing.Reduced spins aswell.

and the usual- cottons, easycares,wool and delicate.

sounds like a fun model all in all. and comes in a 1200rpm model too if ya dont want a super fast model!

Darren
 
Thanks guys. Darren. Regarding the Bosch Excell, that machine can be got for a very reasonable £320ish from 123 electricals despite being on the Comet webby at £400. The 1400 spin is only a few quid more but I would actually prefer the slower one (strange though it may sound). The matching excell dryer is about £250. I'm very tempted!

I bought a Bosch in 1996 and it was a reasonable machine. I think it was a WFF2200. But it wasn't a great machine. Cottons wash program was one hour normal, 12 minutes with the short button pressed. I like a cottons wash to wash for about 25 mins. It would fill for a 40 degrees wash from the hotline only, then when it realised it was tumbling the clothes in 50-60 degree water panic and squirt some cold in. Errr...too late!! And what about enzyme activation? On the spins it would rev really slowly, then when it got to about 900 decide there was an imbalance, slow and start the whole damn procedure again. Furthermore it would bang sometimes. Frederiksam doesn't have an especially good opinion of Bosch / Siemens (more recent)....and my MIL has one which she doens't like because the detergent drawer goes black / mouldy very quickly for some reasons.

While I have plenty of `anti Bosch' ammunition, I don't have any `anti Miele'. But I am tempted by the models mentioned. One more complication is that we need a Fridge Freezer too. I'm a sucker for matching appliances so I'd quite like the Fridge Freezer, which will stand next to the washer, to match. Miele Fridge Freezers are quite pricey..., and I had a Bosch Fridge Freezer in my first flat, I abolsutely loved it!

No-one has mentioned the Electrolux Insight, would that be a contender? I hear it's quiet, and I also good things about Electrolux Fridge Freezers.
 
On the phone last night to Seamus I mentioned I forgot to mention the Insight.

but then thats essentially a Zanussi like your currrent one. I liked my old ZWF 1440 which has the same control panel as the insight although the cycles have slightly changed. It was a great machine and washed amazingly, rinses were fab despite the machine only being rated for 49l water in a 6kg load.

TBH I feel its a Miele you want, again I agree about matching appliances which is one of the reasons I went all electrolux/zanussi last year apart from the Hotpoint Dishwasher but something tells me the current Zanussi line up incl AEG are only going to give around 5/8 years of use with a small family.

Mums Electrolux EWF 1107something circa 1992 (which was a step up from anything the TOL Zanussi had from the era ), I forgot the model number did great for a family of 5 doing long wash cycles daily for a good 8 years but then back in them days when you bought an expensive machine you got the moneys worth.

The thought you can pick up a 2 piece cabinet Zanni 1200 for around £200 puts me off slightly incase they use the same motor etc which lets face it they probably do now might not be as reliable.

you might shoot me for saying this but,

Why not go for a Servis fridge freezer in the real stainless steel variant not the crappy silver finish that look so common, and get the Miele to compliment the FF with its Chrome door.

Mums Servis Fridge is great and well worth a look at because its insides are Electrolux anyway.

This is the route id of prefered to see when Mum chose the LG over a Miele because it was the only half decent washer in total silver - shes clueless!
(not slating the silver door on the Insight, I feel they look better than the whole machine being a fake colour of which I find too obtrusive)

Sorry for rambling on, hope it helps though.

Nick

Link for the fridge pic.... halfway down thread. i think it look spretty good, and for a fridge that only cost £200 approx its very well designed. The FF IIRC retails around £400.

 
Electrolux Insight

Good Evening,

My thoughts on the new electrolux insight....

Pros:

-Large Capacity
-Good Wash Rhythm
-Large Load
-Very Quiet (however only with a large load)

Cons:

-Poor Rinsing (because of low water levels), if you are thinking of washing 8KG's of towels, think again, id say about max 5KG for towels because of rinse performance.
-Noisy with small loads
-Rubbish Water levels (with a medium/large load)
-The full programmes are long however "quick" is a bit too quick (2:30, quick: 1:15)
-No 50C temperature (only has cold, 30,40,60,90)
-Somewhat Expensive

Overall the machine is not too bad, though I wouldnt buy one myself, the rinse water levels are poor imho, and simply are not high enough to remove most of the detergent, especially if you over dose it. The water levels could also have been improved with the wash cycle however it does clean very well, and the motor has 3 different speed wash rhythms.

The jetsystem is the biggest peice of crap I have ever watched, it is worse than the old one infact as it only sprays over one section of clothes. They ought to remove the stupid feature and increase water levels a bit to compensate.

PS I notice on the website they claim the machine has a foam sensor, I have seen nothing of the such on my machine to suggest it does, it always does the usual 3 rinse for a cotton cycle no matter how much detergent and foam is in it.
 
The Insight.....

Works fine for me - use the quick option with extra rinse 90% of the time, clocks in around the 1hr 20 mark.

Having said that I dont tend to wash much bigger loads than I did in the 5kg Zwf1217w so the water level is IMHO fine, the extra rinse is a must tho!.

The lack of a 50 deg setting is a bit of a pain, but ive got used to it!.

Nick- if you have a Euronics Centre near you they may have or can get a Euronics exclusive 6kg 1200 RPM AEG. Should set ya back somewhere round the £400 mark WITH 5 YRS PARTS AND LABOUR GUARANTEE!!. In my opinion you couldnt do a lot better for the money :)

Seamus
 
Hi there...

My thoughts on the Bosch range aren't good - they are relatively fast, but the rinsing is awful even with Aqua plus...for £500 I'd go with a Maytag 60 series (i.e. one of the ASKO machines). You'll get a spin speed slightly higher than your limit, but top notch construction (just avoid their bottom of the line model - got for the second one up with the door mounted on the chassis). Look around to buy online and you should find one at a good price

David
 
Hi Nick

Personally I'd say a Bosch would be a very good choice and worth the money, from my experience with the one I had, the Bosch Maxx which lasted 7 years with one repair which i thought was good, i'd happily have one myself if they've "ironed out" there little niggles e.g water levels, that was my only complaint with that washer, but seeing as though they've supposedly sorted that issue out, i'd imagine them to be great machines :)

However not to sound bias or anything, I'd also say that Zanussi's are proving to be good for the money, this one i have now, the ZWF1431, seems to live up to my needs, it uses plenty of water for rinses, and super rinse adds some extra water to the Cotton Rinses, so far im very pleased :)

Hope This Helps!! :)

Richard
 
The new Servis 8KG washing machines are brilliant. They have a new drum but still has 4 paddles. There are two spin models, 1200 and 1400, but the 1400 spin model I believe is still under the £500 mark but the 7KG model has the same drum but for less money.

Servis is now one of the best for value for money.
Here is the link for servis.

 

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