a three hour washing machine tour

Two weeks ago, our washing machine died; it stopped draining water.
( much plumbing and wailing and gnashing of pipe-wrench teeth )

So now we have two great new toys:


That's the LG TROMM WM2487HRW on the left, and the LG DLG7188RM on the right. So far as I can tell, they're the same as the top-rated LG TROMM WM2688H* and DLG8388, just without the bitmapped display (they have two LED displays instead -- one with icons, one with numbers). Since those were two of the top-rated units by Consumer Reports (the washer being tops by a few points, the dryer being tied for best), I'm pretty happy with the decision.

It helped that there were quite a few specials going on:
1. 200$ back from Home Depot for opening a new credit card (10% on first 2000$)
2. 200$ back for LG major appliances (short-term promotion, also 10% up to 2000$)
3. 100$ rebate from City of Albuquerque for buying an efficient washer
4. 55$ rebate for "free" delivery and install.

All that, and we didn't have to disassemble any of the house to get there. Bonus: the laundry room looks like a sci-fi set, when the lights are off!