I do not know if this pertains to the model you are looking to buy, but the earlier machines could have serious problems in balancing for spin. I watched them in the shop with the back removed and because Maytag only used two shocks or struts under the tub and mounted in the middle, an unbalanced load would result in the tub fishtailing as it tried to spin. If it had 4 shocks, there would have been the stability to prevent the lateral movement. I remember something about the Max Extract option only providing two opportunities for the machine to return to tumble for rebalancing where as without the ME option, there were more so it was best to not use the ME option on loads that might not distribute well for the spin to give them more opportunity to do so and then restart the machine at spin with the ME option selected for possibly greater water extraction.
However, all of that aside, the basic question remains: why build a front loader that does not allow you to see into the machine as it operates? For someone who loves to do laundry and is interested in the process, I cannot think of a more masochistic situation. For all of Maytag's talk about the inner door panel serving to stabilize the cylinder and absorb vibration early on in the game, they changed their message later. Two more struts under the tub would have done it far better. I believe that because the machine used so little water, Maytag was afraid to let people see it working for fear that they would think it could not do an adequate job when they could not see water splashing around.
