I used a very old Electrolux combo washer dryer when I was living in a condo. The thing was built like a tank. It was 8 years old when I took possession and still working when I moved out 5 years later, except for a slightly funky timer.
Not sure about washing machines these days, but older ones tended to last longer because they didn't have alot of electronic parts...
Personally I'm partial to front-loaders. They are gentler on the clothes and use less water. Right now I'm using a Samsung. Let's see if it will last as long....

Previously I used a super oldfag Electrolux model...EWD1214. That model is easily ten to twelve years old. Still working when I moved out.
Now I'm using LG WD CD 1412. (Sorry got confused with Samsung..my fridge is Samsung)

Yes my Samsung fridge has a digital inverter. Bought it mostly for the colour...only one that is white. feature wise OK la ..
Has a large freezer section. Realized too late the front part was plastic so I cant stick fridge magnets on it...
A typical modern design. The front part has a mini opening so I can grab small content without opening the whole door. Quite convenient and saves power. As for the LG washing machine, well, it has a lot of features and is much larger than my Electrolux so I can wash more clothes. However, not as gentle on my clothes as the Electrolux was. In my old machine, once in a while I would forget to take out pieces of tissue paper and it wouldn't mess up my clothes. In the new one, it goes all over the place and typically I would need to wash a 2nd round

I assume you are referring to comforter, which is usually the largest single piece item that people wash at home. I think 12-14 KG range gives sufficient margin so you don't overstress the WM. One of the advantages of a larger washing machine is you can wash more clothes at the same time, reducing the number of washes. That saves you water in the long run, and therefore is more environmentally friendly.
Besides, sometimes the difference between 2 capacities for the same sized WM is just the drum size, so might as well buy the bigger WM... more bang for buck.

I'm not sure why you think that way. As far as I can tell I don't think I have said anything particularly disagreeable. I do not wash mattresses because I vacuum them, seeing how it would be impossible fitting 6 by 6 latex/coconut fiber Getha into a washing machine Comforters on the other hand, should I need to wash them, only go in individually. I think that's common knowledge seeing how the volume alone would fill the entire chamber. The 12-14 kg reference is really more for every day clothes and definitely you will save more if you wash less often. Why do you think hotels these days encourage us to help them reduce the washing frequency? The fact is, washing laundry really wastes a lot of water. If we can wash more clothes at one go we help save water compared to doing multiple loads

I'd like to see where your 90% comes from. I use a front loader btw, and once I set it to the desired cycle, I don't stick around to see whether it submerges fully as long as my clothes come out clean. Besides, washing machines these days have sensors to detect the load size to determine the necessary amount of water required. My water bill is also around RM5, sometimes a bit less, so it's no big deal.

For some reason I cannot fathom why, I seem to have an unintentional talent for infuriating you Please don't take offense since there is none being given. I'm just sharing my own experience for the benefit of others as you are sharing yours.

This post has been edited by oe_kintaro: Feb 7 2014, 08:44 PM

Like I said, I'm just sharing my own experience.

Please lah you are the one assuming things. If you are in this sub forum long enough, you would know I've mentioned before I use a front loader

When it comes to big ticket items, TV, fridge and washing machines, probably the more likely to fail these days would be TV and washing machines. TV due to the amount of electronics, washing machines due to the mechanical stress from usage. To compound it, the newer WM models these days tend to fail earlier, also because of the additional electronics. All the shops I went to tell me the same story that PCBs tend to fry.
The first WM I used was a FL Electrolux Washer Dryer (probably bought around 1997) and it was still going strong when I moved out in 2013. A complete lack of fancy electronics was the probably reason
These days I'm not too sure yet but I bought an extra warranty package on those items just in case...

This post has been edited by oe_kintaro: Feb 8 2014, 09:06 AM

DD is mechanically simpler. Yes it saves manufacturers cost, but mechanically simpler also means longer lasting as you don't have to worry about belts snapping or loss of energy. As long as the manufacturers have their engineering worked out. DD will definitely outlast belt driven systems. Plus, they are less noisy. From an engineering standpoint. DD mechanisms has been in use in many demanding applications over the years: HDDs, trains etc. If/When Electric Vehicles become the norm, you'll likely see more vehicles with DD as it is the most efficient mechanism to transfer energy to the wheel.

Put it this way... probability for a system to fail is the product of the components.
If as you say, belt driven is a 3 component system, then you have 3 potential points of failure. Mind you, these are not independent redundant systems, but 3 interlinked ones. So you have 3 chances to fail.

In a DD there's only 1. (this is oversimplifying, but I hope you get the idea of what I am talking about)

Put it in another way, we would be playing a game of Russian roulette where one person pulls the trigger 3 times vs person who pulls it once.

As an engineering concept DDs have their own engineering problems to solve, but all being equal, there's less chance to fail because of the mechanical simplicity.
It's a general rule that the higher the mechanical complexity, the more chance for failure.

I wouldn't classify a consumer product like washing machine as high-availability requirement heavy equipment , where replacement of a consumable part is far far cheaper than the cost of removing and repairing and where the service life is like 30-50 years. You can't simply throw out a steam turbine, but replacing a motor on consumer product a far simpler matter. The economics are simply very different.

going by your logic, we would still be using cheap rotary dial phones because they're easier to repair and don't break instead of shelling out 2K for a smartphone that breaks in 2 years. Likewise, everyone would be using desktops that you can just change a card or desolder something when it breaks instead using an everything inside sleek tablet that you can't even replace the battery.
But unfortunately it doesn't work that way, I'm afraid. I may sound cynical, but the world is very unfair, and people like nice things and keep finding and demanding new ways of doing things. Sometimes it is better sometimes, it is not: We don't actually need smartphones, but now we can't live without them because they're so convenient and we keep finding new uses for them!

That's just a fact we have to live with. Sometimes in the factory you have yield detractors causing 0.5 to 1 percent loss in manufacturing and you spend countless hours trying to solve it, until you realize that it's cheaper and faster throw away that problem and absorb the cost rather that spend the engineering time and resource to fix it.
Where DD is concerned, the manufacturer typically warranties it for 10-12 years. From a consumer point of view, that's good enough for me, since I wouldn't want to waste my time taking it apart myself. I would only be paying for labor costs at most should it break down.