Price: I don't know the retail price yet. For me, it costs 400 reais (considering I can buy it straight from the factory using an employees only sales channel). Anyway, the retail price will be a little more expensive than a standard top loader washer but won't be as expensive as a front loader washer/dryer. Of course, the retail price will be much higher for the next months,as it's a state of the art machine.
Size: It's the average size for top loaders in brazil. The biggest drum available in Brazil washes up to 15.2 kg, according to ABNT standards. most of the machines are between 10 and 12 kg capacity.
By the way, I did a mistake above. The capacity is 12kg dry to wash and 12kg wet to dry (7kg dry to dry)
The experior size (footprint) of this machine is exactly the same as any ordinary top loader washer in Brazil.
How does it dry?
The machine has two agitators. The main agitator is like the one on any other top loader. the second agitator is around the main agitator and covers whe whole bottom of the machine. It has some low profile fins that "wipe" the drum.
Both agitators run during the wash and the drying cycle. During the wash, the second agitator helps increasing rollover, and during the drying, it helps moving the clothes using random movements of it, the first agitator and the drum, plus the air jets (strong blades of air) that make the clothes float.
The only SMALL chance to get clothes pancaked against the drum after the spin is if a too small (less than 1kg) load (and coincidently very small garments like socks only) is washed. In this case, the user has to release the clothes manually from the drum.
It doesn't remove wrinkles as well as a tumble dryer, but it also doesn't create creases or jams the clothes into a huge ball.
This machine also has the highest cleaning rate in Brazil, considering cold water washes. It has no internal heater and it's cold fill only.
As I said, it's a whole family of washers. (and will also be launched in the U.S., Canada and other countries, just like the whirlpool world washer.) Other versions will also be made. This one isn't HE yet. (it has the Wateraid drum, but more holes were made on it for this version) The HE version has the same drum with only a few holes and the wateraid recirculation system, that recovers the water from the gap between the drum and the tub.
Although, this version already has the ecorinse option (spin rinse that works)
Considering high end models from competitors, it's the "créme de la créme".
Whirlpool has the Brastemp Vantage. It's the same american Whirlpool vantage, but retail price is higher than 7 thousand american dollars, only the washer, plus more than 8 thousand dollars for the dryer. (The price is simply ridiculous and I don't think they will find any consumer stupid enough to pay the same as a brand new car for a washer and a dryer)
Lg top loader... I don't need to say anything about it...
Panasonic has aquabeat... same as LG... giant blender...
GE's best machine is a standard top loader made by Mabe. The same models available in Mexico, with minor differences.
.... and none of the machines above dry.
Drying times:
The machine can take almost 8 hours to finish the longest cycle (considering wash and dry) but the power consumption is very low. It won't be annoying if the user starts the washer at night. By the next morning, the clothes will be ready.
In hot cities like mine, the drying times can be much shorter (maybe more than 50% shorter)
www.geappliances.com
