Warning -- long post ahead.

My DEGX1 (first-released model) will be 7 years of age on 10/8/2011. I like it very much. There is no tangling. The reverse-tumble feature is designed to minimize tangling, not to cause it. Drying performance is very fast in my experience. Air temperature is a little lower than other dryers (low/Delicate is 127F, medium/PermPress 140F, high/Regular-Heavy 149F) but the airflow rate is higher. The self-scraping filter keeps clean throughout the cycle so airflow isn't reduced by lint accumulation. Lint is scraped off continuously and dropped into the collection bucket, which needs dumping only when full. The moisture sensor is accurate and consistent from load-to-load. I rarely use anything other than the "normal" dry setting (there are five auto-dry moisture levels). Timed drying has limited choices (20, 40, or 80 mins on my model ... not sure if current models are the same), but I've only used Timed for pillows (which need all the time they can get, multiple 40-min runs at low temp) and to touch-up a forgotten load. I haven't used every brand/model of dryer on the market, but my F&P SmartLoad is the best of the machines I've used thus far.

Electric models have dual heating elements, 1/3 and 2/3 of the total heat capacity. Only the 1/3 element is run during reverse tumble at all heat levels. The 2/3 element is used for low and medium during forward/normal tumbling, both elements for high.

Regards to the previous comments ... two to four HOURS to dry a load is outrageous and indicates something is likely very much wrong with his/her exhaust ducting or the machine is clogged with lint. Yes, the operational sounds and characteristics are different than other dryers. The drum is oriented sideways (rotates on a left-to-right axis) and has a door that slides open on the side (the drum always stops with the inner door panel open at the top). Of course the inner door must close during operation or the clothes would fall out, and then unlock and open for access to remove the clothes. The outer lid locks for safety reasons. The time needed to unlock the drum lid depends on the orientation of the drum at the moment the cycle is paused or stopped. It's not as l-o-n-g and agonizing a process as the previous commenter infers, although it does involve a brief wait compared to simply popping open a traditional frontloading dryer. The drum slows from full tumble speed to an indexing speed and rotates to the proper position for timing the unlocking mechanism to grab and open the inner drum door.

Linked here is a video clip on YouTube (not mine) that shows the operation with the top and front panel open.
F&P Topload Dryer

I've run across complaints regarding difficulty getting parts through a servicer ... but parts are available via SearsPartsDirect.com, FisherPaykelParts.net (an independent company not related to F&P itself), via eBay sellers, and direct from F&P ... notwithstanding any particular source perhaps being out-of-stock on particular items at this time or that.

The lid fully open is nominally 55-1/2" high. I have cabinets above my washer & dryer, 57-1/2" from the floor. Didn't plan it that way, the cabinets were already built in the house I bought ... the machines fit fine in my case.

Regards to trouble-spots: The igniter module on gas models has been a source of failure. Can't say how common, mine is electric, and I expect F&P would have corrected the problem by now. The belt idler pulley assembly, and occasionally the drum bearing (there was a factory defect on a specific production range by serial number some while ago that has long been corrected). The belt idler on my machine began generating some chattering noises about 2 years ago. I bought the part in preparation for doing the repair at some point in time (wanted to see how long it'd run), but the noise cleared up a few months later and it's still running with the original to this date. One other thing ... the filter mesh can tear if hard debris such as a bit of gravel or a seed burr gets embedded in the lint layer and caught between the filter and scraper.