Estate Washing Machine: Whirlpool Quality at a Budget Price!
Written: Aug 04 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: All the features I wanted, Whirlpool quality & warranty, budget pricing
Cons: No Hand Wash Cycle, less fancy styling than Whirlpool/Kitchenaid
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| WorkingMomof2's Full Review: Estate TAWX700JQ Top Load Washer |
After almost 12 years of faithful service, my Whirlpool washer gave up the ghost one day. With almost no warning, it stopped spinning, leaving soapy clothes in a soggy mess at the bottom of the bin. I was frustrated, our clothes were dirty, and I was leaving on vacation – time to get a new washer, and quickly!
After several days of scouring the ads, searching the stores, and looking at online reviews, we decided on the Whirlpool Estate Heavy Duty Super Capacity Automatic Washer, model TAWS700. I had never looked at the Estate line before, and was positively surprised.
Whirlpool? Estate? What’s the Difference?
Whirlpool, I found out, is the number one appliance manufacturer in the US, and number 3 in Europe. They market their products under four different names, with fairly clean brand differentiation between them. Roper is the bottom of the line “Economy” line, with minimal features and budget pricing. The Estate Line is the “builder” line, with basically the same features as the Whirlpool line, but with less focus on appearance or extra bells and whistles. There are less offerings in the Estate line, only the most popular models/features are offered. The Whirlpool line is the most well known line, with almost identical features as the Estate line, but more aesthetic focus (nicer styling and coloring)and higher prices for similar features. The Kitchenaid line is their top of the line brand, marketed to the more upscale buyers with the highest price points as well.
The Estate Appliance website tells us that the Estate brand first appeared back in 1842, when it began as a tiny foundry in Hanging Rock, Ohio. When this line was acquired by Whirlpool in 1955, it was the oldest continuously used brand in the appliance industry. Today the Estate lines are designed, engineered and marketed by Whirlpool, including Whirlpool quality inside and out.
The Whirlpool Estate TAWS700EQ Washer
We found this washer after a flurry of searching and researching, and have been very pleased by the Whirlpool quality, features, and performance, at a price far below what we expected to pay for a washer of this caliber.
This washer features:
* Super Large Capacity Tub – a far larger tub than my previous Whirlpool, this is a 27” tub.
• A White porcelain basket, with self balancing inner basket and tub ring, complete with lifetime warranty on the basket
• Eight cycles, including knits/gentle, and an extra rinse cycle
• Four wash/rinse water temperature selections
• Five water levels
• Easy load bleach dispenser on the side
• Center fabric softener dispenser
• Self-cleaning lint filter
• Double action agitator to provide consistent rollover of the clothes
• 2 Speed ½ horsepower motor
• Direct drive transmission (has no belts and less moving parts than other transmissions, designed for fewer repairs)
• 1-5-10 year warranty: 1 year in-home service on the entire product; 5 year warranty on the gearcase, top and lid; 10 year warranty on the outer tub.
Performance of this Washer
We have had this washer for three months now and have had no problems with it. I had some concerns about the self-cleaning lint filter, based on other reviews of Whirlpool washers with this feature; however, mine has functioned flawlessly. It was delivered quickly and set up in less than 10 minutes (installed, balanced and tested) and delivery was including in my final price of $328. However, this washer (like most) is 173 pounds, and measures 43-3/8” high (back) x 26-7/8” wide x 25 –1/2” deep, so unless you’re prepared to toss that size of a box around go ahead and pay for the delivery, if it’s not included in your price!
I have been pleased as punch with this washer, and have found that it performs far more quietly and quickly than my previous (Whirlpool) washer. It is not extremely quiet, though, and you can definitely tell when it is washing. The adjustable water levels are nice, since the tub is so large that my “average” washload only fills the tub halfway. I have been able to wash blankets and my body pillow in this, though, that were too large for my Extra-large washer before this.
I compared this side by side to the Whirlpool washers with similar features, and was amazed by the price difference. The closest washer I found to this had only three water levels but did offer the “hand-wash” cycle, it had a Spreckle basket instead (no lifetime warranty), no extra rinse option, and was $439. We decided that for the extra $100 we could run our handwashables on the gentle cycle for a shorter period of time. We were reassured by the sales lady, who confirmed what another retailer had told us – that the hand-wash cycle was simply a gentle cycle that alternated with one minute of washing and one minute of soaking. Since I rarely machine-wash my delicates for more than 2 minutes anyway, we decided to bank the extra hundred dollars and skip this feature.
Conclusion
Our previous Whirlpool washer lasted twelve years, and had we had a little more warning and time to repair it, we possibly could have nursed it back to health. There is indeed a website specifically designed to Whirlpool repairs where I was able to get specific advice on repairs of this washer, and found out that this particular failure mode is fairly common in Whirlpool washers over 10 years old. As we were literally only days from leaving on vacation, we decided just to get a new washer, and were fairly steadfast in our desire to stay loyal to the Whirlpool brand.
We have every confidence that we will get many years of quality performance out of our new Whirlpool washer, even though it bears an Estate name. Feature to feature, this stacked up against far more expensive Whirlpool washers and came out ahead. The primary difference we saw between the Estate Washers (and dryers) versus the Whirlpool line was in the aesthetics – the Estate line is definitely lower frills, without electronic control panels, fancy detailing, etc. Since our washer is in the garage, this wasn’t much of an issue to us, but the $111 price difference was.
I can highly recommend the Estate line Super Capacity Washer, model TAWS700. It is a large, quiet washer filled with features and built with Whirlpool quality, with a solid warranty and a budget-friendly price tag. We’re thrilled with our purchase, and glad that we won’t have to shop for washers again for at least 12 more years!
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For more information on this washer, click on the product link above, or on the Go Shopping link to the left of this review. Here are a couple other websites that may help you as well!
http://www.estateappliances.com/quality/
http://www2.whirlpool.com/html/corp/pandb/wnaag.htm
http://www.applianceadvisor.com/brandadvisor.htm
http://www.appliancepro.com/tips.html
Recommended:
Yes
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WorkingMomof2
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Member: Amy
Location: Southern California
Reviews written: 313
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Every time I close the door on reality it comes in through the windows.
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