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points by rectang 2 days ago | 0 comments

I'm about to buy a Speed Queen TR7 washing machine. It feels great to buy a dumb appliance that's built to last and serviceable.

No spyware and featuritis a la kings of user-hostilility LG and Samsung.

No planned obsolescence from built-to-disintegrate brands living off ancient reputations like Whirlpool and Maytag.

Just a machine that I won't have to worry about from a company that makes money by providing value rather than by victimizing their customers.

[–] jihadjihad 2 days ago

Happy fellow TR7 owner here, though I am curious if Whirlpool’s latest foray into seemingly reliable washers will pose any real threat/competition. The TR7 is definitely one that “just works” and fades into the background of your life.

Sadly Bosch didn’t take the same tack; the prospect of slurping up all that sweet, sweet data must have been too hard to resist. I love my 800 series dishwasher but I do wish it were as “dumb” as the TR7.

[–] rectang 2 days ago

Who can tell which Whirlpool appliances are actually quality? It's so hard to trust anybody. Between the short-time-horizon thinking of public companies driven by the share price and the brand cannibalism of Private Equity, the brand you thought was reliable a couple years ago is today dialing up short-term gains so that its current leadership can gut the company and retire.

Reviews are so easily gamed that it's hard to trust them. Only companies with small product lines can build and maintain a durable reputation for quality.

[–] eszed 2 days ago

I like my Bosch dishwasher, too. Never connected it to wifi; never downloaded the app. It broadcasts a Bluetooth channel I wish I could turn off, but I've not seen any other ill effect. There's just no compelling use-case for a "connected" dishwasher, lol.

[–] bflesch 2 days ago

Time to exploit their outdated, unpatched bluetooth stack and do some dishwasher wardriving ;)

Maybe their built-in speaker hardware can be reconfigured to act as a microphone.

[–] wilbo 2 days ago

I own a speedqueen. I love my speedqueen. I wouldn't buy speedqueen today and instead opt for a different, cheaper dumb model.

My speedqueen dryer needs a new control board after 9 years. A new dryer isn't as high quality. From what I understand the dryer quality dipped in the past 6-9 years whereas washers are more or less the same. Maytag and GE have much cheaper dumb options you should consider, and save yourself several hundred. It will also make replacement less painful if a critical part dies.

[–] rectang 2 days ago

I don't trust Maytag and GE. It's good that they have simple interfaces and lack surveillance tech, but their cheap machines are almost certainly built for price-driven consumers who don't consider that they are built to fall apart.

Household appliances have been around for a long time now. I wish that there were open-source hardware designs that a certification organization could evaluate.

[–] cullenking 2 days ago

don't do it! i just got rid of my set i purchased new in 2020. i'd rather have a washer/dryer that i have to replace every 5 years than the terrible function of both the washer and dryer. the washer i'll forgive a little being it was the front loader model, but their door seal is a terrible design and pools water, just reeked of mold all the time. i'll forgive it because it's a common front loader issue. the dryer on the other hand had failed heating element in the first few months. whatever these things happen, however the heating element on that model gets too hot. it would melt the synthetic lint onto the screen as it passed out of the main dryer body, which after a couple months would form these plastic stalactites on the grill that i would have to grind off every two months, because they would start shredding my clothes.

here's someone else with the same problem: https://www.reddit.com/r/Appliances/comments/10ijvmy/why_is_...

[–] bethekidyouwant 2 days ago

I don’t know you can’t adjust the water level so I’m afraid that sensor is gonna break..