It was much of a deliberation between a Hotpoint WMA61 and a LG WM1260FHD, after my old Hotpoint 9516 decided to pack up via its lock (the door lock kept getting stuck, my dad tried to open it and broke the lock, the lock was in the machine detached from the door), but it was LG winning.

My dad bought the machine in October 2001 for £360, and there were quite a few advantages about it. Being in a family of seven, a 7kg load was perfect, a very big capacity. The dispay made the washer easier to use, and it was good to see the progress so easily (compared to a dial you had to move closer to, to see what symbol it has got to), the unit was super silent too, well, in the wash cycle, thanks to direct drive motors, no belts, which felt good.

Then come the bad points, the door may be large and wide, but very heavy, weighing itself down, the hinge became loose. I couldn't shut it properly, I needed to either slam it or raise the door up and close it. I got sick and tired of tightening the hinge pretty soon. Next is the rubbish parts, by pure accident a piece of clothing got caught in the door, and it twisted and ripped the door seal. Accidents do happen, so I decided to buy a new seal. Couldn't find the part anywhere, went to Ukwhitegoods.co.uk and the new seal will cose £39.95. What a rip off! Hotpoint seals are less than half the price of that! The drawer to dispense powder is weak too, you need to apply extra force to close it. The wash times are ridiculously long, a normal colour cycle takes TWO HOURS, and the rapid cycle takes ONE! They should be shorter, I appreciate the fact that the reason they are long is because of the water saving feature, but this is extending my electricity bill! If they cared about water, why does it have both hot and cold?! The worst thing about this is the constant imbalancing.

When the washer goes into its final spin, the high 1200 spin, it has a tendancy to stick at 9 minutes, constantly spinning and stopping, I know perhaps I may unbalance my loads, but this happens all the time! Then eventually it displays error message UE, and I get so annoyed when it does.

When I moved I had another washing machine in the house, a Hotpoint WM55, which also spins at 1200 but is significantly better that the LG. I had to sacrifice a flashy display and make do with a 5kg wash but who cares. I wash my clothes in a seperate wash, my dad's clothes get washed occasionally and my brother never bothers to wash his clothes! As for the LG, it is now where is belongs, in a scrap yard! I am ten times better off with my budget ranged WM55 than with my WM1260FHD (Complicated model number!)