We've been talking about a new washer for a year or so now, so when the bearings on our ~8-9 year old Frigidaire Gallery kicked the bucket Friday (squealing metal on metal horrible noise during the spin cycle) we decided to replace rather than repair.

My husband couldn't come shopping this morning, so after chatting at length with a sales person at a small independent local appliance store, I narrowed my choices to a few front-loading models (although I'd gone in expecting to choose an HE top loader, I didn't like the options available) and made a decision. In the end it came down to a Frigidaire Affinity (with heater) or a Maytag 4000 series (without heater). I chose the latter because it was $50 less and had a greater tub capacity. But now I'm finding mixed reviews on the machine, and fixating on how I didn't really like the control panel. Did I make a mistake? I'm not sure I've ever had sole responsibility for a purchase of this magnitude and it's eating me up!