I don't normally recommend a Kenmore over the maytag for specific features since they're nearly the same, but in this case that would probably be the best for you. Remember that the Kenmore does have the option to do more rinsing than the other two, and you would probably want to wash the diapers on heavy duty in order to get them even more water....if it actually does come down to that.
Even though these machines do use Auto temp, they also have a sanitary cycle so keeping your really hot temps isn't a problem. It is a great machine, expensive but great. And if you put it on a sears card and time things right then you should be able to get a rather good deal. 25% off the dryer tomorrow or friday, then you should be able to return and get approx. 15% of the washer adjust. back to you if you returned with the receipt between the 20-22. Also know that what you're calling a warrenty from sears is actually a service plan. It obviously costs more but you do get more...just find a good associate to tell you the differences so you can make the judgement on that. If by chance you do just want a normal extended warrenty then you can get that through GE or other companies 2nd hand....also sears can give you 10% off the price of that service plan if you get it on washer and dryer...you might need to bring that up though.

I think you would be happy with any machine as long as you don't get a defective one, but again you may want to stick with the kenmore to be safe....then you can get a nice color too I suppose :p

Hope that helps a bit >.>

appliancenightmare,
I think having the water heater set to 150 F is problematic in more than one way. You say that you have 4 children, do they never mess with the hot water faucet? I know my 3-year-old uses the warm water occasionally and I wouldn't want her to burn herself! She thinks 120 degrees is too hot...
In addition to that, there is a maximum temperature for incoming hot water for the ATC of a FL to work correctly. For the Bosch I think it says no more than 140 F, which is plenty of hot IMO.
Does your DW have an internal heater? Maybe you should upgrade the DW if it can't get your dishes clean with water that's cooler than 150 degrees.

The Bosch 800 has the option to do "quick" washes on all cycles, but they will not be really short. The 500/500 Plus have the actual "quick wash" feature that is supposed to take 25 minutes. 2 hours is not the cycle time for a normal cycle. The sanitary cycle takes that long and can take even longer if you choose additional options (extra rinse, bleach, etc.)
I agree that it would be nice to have the ability to manually pick the water temperature. The manufacturers have vary different definitions of cold, warm and hot. I think the Bosch Nexxt has pretty good temperature choices though and it uses the heater throughout the cycle to keep the water at that temperature. The other two probably also do that on most cycles, but I haven't studied the manuals of them.
If you want to read the Bosch manual, I think the 800 is very similar to the 700 and you should be able to find the manual for that on the Bosch website.

It is not easy to choose a good washer, but the three washers on your list are all very good choices IMO.

Good luck!

fyuute,
I'm having understanding what you are saying about 25% off on dryer tomorrow or Friday and then 15% adjusted back???
Please give me some more detail.
I have a Sears card my dh does not want me to use it, he wants GM points! But if the Sears card gets a huge discount, then I'll dig it out and bother dh in class again...

I think he means that you can go and buy both appliances and the dryer is on sale THursday & Friday, and then go back later and have the price adjusted for the washer, as they will be on sale later this month.

Of those listed, the Bosch is the only one that uses it's heater to maintain temperature on every cycle. While you can't say, "I want 102 degrees on this cycle," every cycle type has a set temperature that it will maintain from the duration of the cycle. Those temperatures are listed in the manual. In addition, it will do a profile wash - I've found nothing better for cloth diapers. Skip the soak and do a profile wash (starts out cold and gradually heats to the temperature for the cycle you choose). It does take about 3 hours from start to finish with a really full load, but if you can skip the soak, would probably save you time. A normal cycle takes from 25 minutes to 2 hours, depending the cycle and the size of the load.

Well, I went to Sears. The sales guy told me tomorrow starts a 2 day only sales and 25% off applies to the second lesser priced item. He also said the He5t colors were going on sale from their regular price tomorrow.
And the biggest news, I could buy and have delivered an He5t with STEAM in the washer and dryer for $1599 each... The absolute latest model which is not yet in stores.
But I'm pushing my budget limit w the He5t as it is and they have to be on sale for me to stay within the budget.

I'm not sure if you've seen the Epic manual yet, but I have linked to it @ the bottom. I have this set, but haven't been able to use it yet, b/c I'm waiting 'til we get our new house, however, I have read & read the manual.

The Epic does have a warm wash/warm rinse, but that's the only warm rinse option it has. Also, it says in the manual that the epic is capable of doing bulky laundry like king size comforters, but it doesn't have a special cycle for this. Sorry, I couldn't be of more help. Good luck w/ your purchase!

PS~ Every review I've read about the Epic was good... you may want to check out www.epinions.com too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Epic Manual