HeyBub wrote:

From the Wall Street Journal:

"In 1996, top-loaders were pretty much the only type of washer
around, and they were uniformly high quality. When Consumer Reports
tested 18 models, 13 were "excellent" and five were "very good." By
2007, though, not one was excellent and seven out of 21 were "fair"
or "poor." This month came the death knell: Consumer Reports simply
dismissed all conventional top-loaders as 'often mediocre or worse.' "

Demise of top-loaders blamed on government regulations.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...pinion_LEADTop

It's for the children.



We bought a Whirlpool top loader 4 years ago that has a very small
agitator at the bottom of the tub and a clear lid so you can watch the
clothes being washed if you want to. It's amazing to me how that tiny
agitator moves the clothes around but you can clearly see it for
yourself. It also has a huge tub so you can put way more clothes in
there than the old top loaders. My wife says it cleans the clothes
very nicely.