This is not the first washing machine that I am using, I have been using IFB Senorita Front Loading washing machine since last 10 years and our entire family is very happy with that machine. Now question is why I needed to buy another washing machine???? Voila!!! I had to shift city with my wife and IFB is still being used by my parents...
After a thorough research, I decided to go for Samsung WF8500NMW front loading washing machine (even though we were happy with the IFB brand) which is a very new model and you will not find it in the official website. I paid Rs 18500 for this machine in Chennai. This machine comes with a 5 KG capacity and has a Diamond Drum and Ceramic Heater. I did not go with a IFB machine anymore as I found the latest IFB models not good enough to compete with Samsung or LG. The plastic quality, the technology, the switches, etc does not appeal at all after you see the Korean brands. The IFB that we bought 10 years back had a far superior finish that the current one.
Ok now let’s go with the details of the Samsung machine. I simply loved the looks of this machine and the technology. The look is very contemporary as this model is already marketed in Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, etc). All functions are touch button with a digital display to give you the details of wash time. It has some really useful functions like
Heater temperature selector (30 degrees C to 95 degrees C),
Variable Spin Speed (400, 800 and 1000 rpm) which really helps when you to dry different variety of clothes. Cottons can be dried at 1000 rpm and Wool at 400 rpm.
Delay end 3-19 hours(helps you to delay start the machine if you are going out and will be back only after hours)
Pre-wash (for very dirty clothes), Intensive Wash (for stubborn stains and dirt), Rinse + (extra rinse cycle to remove all traces of detergent), Rinse Hold (for avoiding foul smell from clothes if it is not taken out from the machine immediately after wash)
Fuzzy Control (automatically selects the water level depending on the load). This Fuzzy Logic technology is used in modern escalators also to determine its speed depending on load.
Load Balancer (this is really a very important function, else your machine would displace during spin cycle, which used to happen with my IFB). You can see some of these terrible spin cycle videos in Youtube where the machine moves around on the floor during the spin cycle
Now I will go into some finer details of this machine. The Diamond Drum seems to be a boon to this washing machine. The company claimed that it will cause less fabric damage, which I failed to believe till I bought it. In our IFB, where the drum holes are bigger, creates bubbles in our clothes after few washes. In Diamond Drum, as the holes are smaller, the bubbling effect is reduced SUBSTANTIALLY. Believe it, its a fact.
The Ceramic Heater function is another great thing about this machine. In case of normal heater, scaling begins to formulate after couple of years at the outer layer of the drum, leading to foul smell in the machine and deteriorating wash quality as detergents become less effective. We use a desclaing agent in our IFB every year to get rid of it but after 10 years, some scales have permanently stuck to the drum. The Ceramic Heater is supposed to prevent scale formation, thus prolonging the life of the machine.
The machine has an auto error detection system viz. door open, water pressure inadequate, uneven load, unclean filter, etc. The cycle selector will give you various options to select your wash time ranging from 29 mins to 160 Mins, which gives you ample options to wash various kinds of clothes depending on the time you have in hand in today’s busy schedule.
The motor of this machine is quite silent unlike IFB. During the spin function (when the motor is supposed to create the maximum sound), you can listen to your favourite music in your music system, which was not the case with my IFB. LG has come up with a Direct Drive motor (Samsung also has in international market) which is supposed to "super silent" but I do not mind the sound of my Samsung as it is hardly anything!!!
We liked the IFB machine as it has crossed 10 years (which is a real long time as those days BOSCH used to supply the motors for IFB machines) without any major fuss/repairs but my new Samsung machine is technologically far superior than a contemporary IFB at similar price range (IFB Elena DX is at similar price range but its far behind in terms of looks and technology than that of Samsung WF8500NMW).
I cant predict how long this machine will last but overall I am very happy with this product.