Washers: we find CR Best Buys for as little as $400.(LAB TESTS)(Product/service evaluation)

CLEANING ABILITY has little to do with price, according to our latest washing-machine tests, which revealed great values among top- and front-loaders.

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Three top-loaders, from Estate, GE, and Maytag, wash well and quickly. And they cost $500 or less. You'll only need to spend a couple of hundred dollars more on one of our recommended front-loaders for better energy and water effciency.

Whether you're browsing the appliance aisles or surfing the Web, it's easy to find washers that cost almost $2,000, as manufacturers load their machines with anti-vibration technology and allergen removal cycles. But some claims proved little more than hype in our labs. The details:

New test shakes things up. Front-load washing machines spin faster, which wrings more water out of clothes so that they dry more quickly. But those higher spin speeds can cause picture-rattling vibrations. After putting the washers through our new vibration test, the scores of several front-loaders dropped. While concrete slabs, such as those found in basements, can absorb vibrations well, standard wood-framed floors don't. A $900 LG and the $1,300 Asko Ultracare shook so vigorously in our tests that they would be poor choices for laundry rooms on framed floors. The Asko's four-shock suspension didn't help.

Allergen overkill. LG's premium front-load machines include an option that claims to achieve water temperatures above the 130[degrees] F recommended to kill allergens such as dust mites and germs in pet dander. But even if the LG Allergiene works as claimed, you can pay hundreds less and still reduce your exposure to allergens by vacuuming often; using dust-mite covers on mattresses, box springs, and bedding; and replacing bedding with materials that resist allergens.

Longer cycles can fray fabrics. Front-loader cycle times are getting longer; many take more than 90 minutes per 8-pound load. Those longer cycles can make garments wear out faster. Even with top-loading washers, the 20-minute longer cycle time of the Kenmore Oasis 2808 over the Whirlpool Cabrio WTW6700T probably accounted for the Kenmore's lower gentleness score.