Mimi,
When I want to check ratings of appliances, the first place I look is
Epinions. Here you can read many users' evaluations of name brand
products, with remarks about the items from people who have actually
bought them. The site is very active: for example, in the category of
Kenmore washers alone you will find ninety-five rating/review entries
by consumers.
Epinions currently has entries for these brands of washers:
Bosch
Frigidaire
GE
Hotpoint
Kenmore
KitchenAid
Maytag
Whirlpool
Miele
Asko
Equator
Estate
Fisher & Paykel
Roper
Crosley
Haier America
Danby
Evenflo
You can also browse by type of washer (Front Load Washers, Combination
Washer/Dryers, Top Load Washers) or price (under $500, over $500.)
Epinions: Washing Machines
http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Large_Appliances-All-Washing_Machines
A similar array of brand names and user ratings are in the Epinions
section on dryers:
Amana
Asko
Frigidaire
GE
Hotpoint
Kenmore
Maytag
Miele
Roper
Whirlpool
Bosch
Estate
Fisher & Paykel
Home Maid
KitchenAid
Avanti
Crosley
You can look at ratings of dryers categorized by whether they are
electric or gas, and under/over $500.
Epinions: Dryers
http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Large_Appliances-All-Dryers
As a sample of what you can expect from Epinions, I looked up an Amana
washer that I own. There were quite a few five-star reviews, and a
handful of disappointed users. Clicking on those users' posts, I found
the machine being described as a "lemon" because of transmission
problems. Another user gave considerable detail about his difficulties
trying to remove the water pump. Yet another says that she returned
the machine to the store because of trouble with the belts and
transmission. The remaining ten reviews are quite good, and the
machine has overall good ratings, but it is always interesting to
learn what the "worst case scenario" may be. Here's what I found on my
washer. Similar details are available for many, many other brands and
models:
Epinions: Amana LWA40A Rotary Controls Washer
http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Washing_Machines-Amana-Amana_LWA40A_Rotary_Controls_Washer/display_~reviews
Although Epinions does have some paid advertising, they do not seem to
censor bad reviews in any way. Occasionally I've seen reviews that
were quite horrific, and some of the people go into lengthy diatribes
about exactly what was wrong with their machine. Fortunately, the
folks who are delighted with their appliances sometimes write at
length, too!
I hope Epinions will serve your needs. There are other ways of
obtaining reviews and ratings; Consumer Reports is one of the best,
but their online ratings are for subscribers only. Bizrate is good for
price comparisons, but has too few products listed, and does not give
unbiased ratings. Epinions is, I think, the best of the lot: it is
easy to use, free, and filled with useful information.
Consumer Reports
http://cr-productreviews.org/info/com.consumer_reports_ProdSelect_38_31_Models_9900223_html.html
Bizrate
http://bizrate.com/marketplace/search/search.xpml?de_id=200&cat_id=1&keyword=washing+machines
Best regards,
pinkfreud
Search strategy:
"ratings" + "washing machines"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=ratings+%22washing+machines
"ratings" = "dryers"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=ratings+dryers |
