I was cruisn through Amana's website tonight looking at there Fridg's and such and i spyed this: It has a diffrent control panel, porclin tub and micro ban agitator..If you download the owners manual you will see that it's a whirlpool style manual with Amana plastered on it.. Another direct drive from the looks of it.. Am i correct?

I'm thinking the same thing, especially with that wide lid on the higher-end model. The other machines with the plastic/SS tubs remain the same Norgetag design since the demise of the HORRIBLE Amanatag a couple of years ago.

That makes me happy! I have always liked amana, mainly for how rare they where...Although i am a Fan of the Amanas here that soo many hate... I will put my paws on one with the Electronic controls.. Thats my fav..

But at least amana is getting a fairly decent product.. DD Amana's

Yeah and the Whirly-based owners manual is as slim with model details as they publish. Like night & day compared with the Maytag based models with lots of product information.

Looks like, the model NTW5xxxTQ series machines are the DD Whirlpool built. At least they have a chance of surviving beyond the warranty.

I wish "TQ" stood for Turquoise!

That's horrible. How many brand names can WP slap on the same product? Might as well buy a Roper and save a couple hundred bucks.

But what is this "Tri-Care agitator" that is a "spiral"? Seems to be different than the DA agitator that is listed on other models.

Peter, it's the exact same agitator as what's found on Sears' models iwth Total Care agitator.

Eventually, the amananorgetag washers will be gone. They are also bringing out the Amana Enlighten, which is a Maytag-Newton-style FL washer. It has the Neptune TL control panel and the same rounded-edge design that the TL used. Also, the matching dryer looks just like the old Neptune TL dryer. Maytag's new DD washers look fairly similar to the Amana DD washers.

Micro-ban agitator?


HA! Wait till it comes out that this is the cause of XXX disease.

Gee Togs, I thought XXX disease was caused by pay websites, LOL.

While I think Whirlpool makes fine washers and dryers, I, too, am getting sick of so many appropriated brands having the same damn neutral drain/agitator/tranny configuration. It's fascism is what it is!

I'm just sick of DD Whirlpool machines in general. That "thunka thunka thunka thunka thunka" sound is just everywhere.

Ugh. The generic toploader.

Agreed..Soon enough all we'll have is the Thunk-Thunk, unless ya buy a GE or Frigidaire... But i would by the Amana over them all... The dealer who sold us the stuff for the remtals has them for $309 a pop..Not bad at all..Plus i really want an amanna fridge...

Striving towards a disease-free environment.
This is posted in my office, by another employee.

LOL! That's excellent---and so true.

I wish Speed Queen would get themselves into more markets to compete with the, as Jason put it so well, WP-based generic toploader. If I were to replace my Frigidaire TL'er, I'd certainly be interested in the Speed Queen. But no one within 75 miles of me carries the brand.

They all must have the same marketing plan as P & G Just Bring a machine out and slap a different name on it. Frankly I am sick of all the cookie cutter washers they all look the same.. All the T/L S look like each other and all the F/L S look alike I have never seen so many copy cat machines.

Stepford Appliances.

Appliances Of The Corn.

Of course, I shouldn't talk; I bought a toploading washer that matches exactly my exactly matching existing pair.

Yeah, it is sad that too many brands are being badge engineered instead of having their own solutions to washing and drying. Ultimately this may come back and bite WP if they become bogged down in spending time and money on too many nameplates and dealer lines and not enough on new development and quality. That said, WP has for the most part produced reliable products that wash well so maybe they'll do OK. I'd be happy to see them just retire the surplus brands.

I think the term "badge engineering" comes from the '60s when most British car companies managed to merge together in one ill-fated mass called British Leyland. Some cars were marketed under the nameplates of Austin, Morris, Wolseley, Riley, MG, and Van den Plas with only minor changes to the grilles, engines and interiors . . . Jaguar, Rover, and Truimph were eventually caught up in BL as well. BL thought they had really nearly eliminated competition by saturating most markets with almost identical products supposedly appealing to different people. Meanwhile, the rest of the world moved ahead and saw though the charade and it all sank in a very expensive mess, leaving only Jaguar, Mini, and MG, none of them British owned, as remnants of a once-pround industry . . . and MG is on life-support by the Chinese anyway. If WP were to screw up like BL did then the outcome would likely be similar, in that it could be bought by foreign interests and leave only niche guys like Speed Queen representing classic American laundry products.

Question for you guys: I know Frigidaire is owned by Electrolux, but what about GE? Electrolux as well, or out on their own?

GE, so far, is on its own here!

F&P (Fisher and Paykel) dryers look suspiciously like the GE however.....

The F&P frontload dryer is made by the same people. Their TOP LOADING dryer is made by ???

And it's SO heartbreaking to see a classic dryer with a white WP made clunker sitting next to it.

If I'm not mistaken, F&P FL dryers are made by GE...in CANADA (at least my friend's was)...

Perhaps they now make them all here.