I would bet that 90% of people buy their top load. We only sell their front load units when selling the stack unit (not always, but most of the time)

Their top loads are the only ones that don't feel like they are made of paper mache

I bought the top load. I wanted a traditional washer.

I bought the top load awn432 just this week. So far, I am really liking it. I had a GE Adora. It did more spinning out after the rinse than it did an actual washing cycle. When it agitated on the regular (heavy load), it sounded more like a delicate cycle. A bearing went out in it and it was only 2 1/2 years old.

And let me add -- I had a Maytag for somewhere around 22 years before I bought the GE. When I did my first load in the SQ, I loved hearing the sound of that dial again. Brought back memories of a machine that actually washed clothes.

A properly operated front loader will out clean a top loader. This is according to Consumer Reports, manufacturers who make both types of washers, and my own experience. My front loader is better than my old maytage, even when my maytag was at max settings.

Used at default setting my LG front loader did not out perform my maytag.

I looked at Consumer Reports but found some comments that said the reason they rated the SQ top load low was due to what CR said was the "lack of a real perm press cycle." Personally, I think people should decide for themselves what they like and want. Read lots of opinions/reviews, etc and then decide. There will always be those who swear by a top load and those who swear by a front load.

I carefully read the Consumer Reports reviews. They stated the front loaders were far superior to the top loaders. But I also read the comments on the reviews and was struck, again, by how many of the comments were from people who had used the front loaders and hated them. I'm sure many who used and hated them did not actually read the manual and follow directions. But it can't be all of them - in fact, some stated that they meticulously read and followed directions.

Plus, the CR ratings only rated the front loaders at 50-60% positive. That, plus the voluminous negative comments on CR, Lowe's, Home Depot, and Sears, plus my daughter's comments on her front-loader (she likes the machine, but there are so many caveats - door open, wipe out seal, wash the washer with special stuff, twisted and abraded clothes etc - that I went back to the tried and true type of machine.

On the other hand, I have read that you shouldn't believe everything you read on websites/internet. ;) That's why I said we should each research and decide what we feel is best for us.