Silence is golden, or at least well worth £500! (LG WM 1460 5FHD)

Member Name: leeag

Product:	LG WM 1460 5FHD
Date:	28/05/02 (6261 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free 5 year warranty, Quiet and stable, 7kg capacity

Disadvantages: manual could be better, occassional foam residue around door

After an ill-fated brief fling with the Dyson CR01 in October 2001 (read my review of the CR01 in the Dyson section), I was still searching for the ideal wash companion to oust our rented 2.5 year old Hotpoint WM72 from its place.

As well as being a Dyson fan, I've also a loyalty towards LG Electronics (formally known as GoldStar in the UK) since I own several other products bearing their name. I had long been aware that they made washing machines but had heard little about them in reviews or high street retailers.

Eventually however (having poured over LG's product booklets) I took the plunge and parted with my £500 for this washer. Was it worth it, am I happy, is it better than the Dyson and Hotpoint? Yes, yes and yes!

Main selling points:

Before I explain the machine fully, I should list the major selling points for this washer which influenced my decision to buy it:

Direct drive motor (no drive belt to wear out, also means machine is stable and has fewer moving parts).
Silent brushless motor (motor will last the lifetime of the machine).
Low noise operation (You don't need to shout when its on a 1400rpm spin!)
7kg drum.
Easy to use electronic controls.
"Time remaining" display.
Triple A rating.
Free 5 year parts / 2 year labour cover
(yes, I had to read that twice too!)

Basic Specs:

If you're just skimming this review you'd want to know some key facts about this washer...

Weight: 65kg
Spin: 1400 (max)
Size: 600mm(W) x 600mm(D) x 850mm(H)
Programmes (approx lengths in min):
Whites (162),
Eco-Whites (173),
Rapid (54),
Wool (55),
Delicate (82),
Synthetic (119),
Coloureds (119)

These facts were taken from the manual which you can also download at www.lgelectronics.co.uk.

Installation:

As you see above, the washer is 65kg, and that is back breakingly heavy.


Unless you have someone to help you I would strongly suggest you get it professionally installed/lugged into place! However apart from that installation is very easy.

As always, you need to remove some kind of transit lock device before use. LG has clearly put some effort into this by making the removal of said device as easy as possible (unlike Dyson which makes you take the lid and back off before wrestling with a strange lump of metal!) - you need merely to unscrew and pull 4 rubber bungs out from the back of the machine and refill the holes with supplied bung hole covers - nice!

Having connected up the hot, cold and waste pipes and pushed the machine into place, it was ready for use - time for the big switch on!

Front/looks:

The washer has a wonderfully easy to use front panel that screams "Look! I've been well engineered" at you. The buttons and programme dial are silver coloured plastic with a similarly coloured surround which makes for a cool look.

One press of the power button and you are greeted with short musical scale of notes to indicate "ready". You might hate this, but Mum and I don't, it makes a change from the harsh beeps of other washers! The programme knob has text and icons around it and merely requires a gentle turn to select the desired program, while a LED lights up underneath each icon as you select it (if you turn the knob fast enough you get a cycling LED effect not unlike a UFO!). Having picked the programme, you then choose programme options. The programme option buttons (Wash, Rinse, Spin and Temp.) all have a vertical set of LEDs, alongside each LED is a single label (i.e. Spin's LEDs are 1400, 1000, 800, 400, no spin) which clearly shows the setting you have chosen or that is pre-defined. If you've had troubles with unclear front panels of other washers, you'll find this one refreshingly clear and simple! Finally you can set a time
delay from 3 hours, in 1 hour increments up to 19 hours for when you want the wash to finish. The remaining wash time is always displayed in a large green LED display above the program option buttons.

The door opening is wider than usual at 30cms and with the 180 degree door having a large chrome coloured rim it really looks like a £500 washer.

User manual:

The user manual could be better, it a rather cluttered (graphically and lexically) 28 page booklet - it contains useful detail but is nowhere near as good as, say, Hotpoint's excellent documentation in terms of instant easy reference.

Wash cycle:

Programme selected and options set, the Start button gets it going. During each part of the wash the appropriate option LED will flash to indicate what the machine is currently doing, i.e. Wash flashes during the main wash and goes out when rinses start. This means that at a very quick glance you can see what it's doing and thanks to the remaining indicator, you'll also know how long is left. The machine constantly re-estimates the remaining time and sometimes minutes pass in less than 60 seconds!

After filling, the machine is silent during the wash and rinse cycles with only the sound of water and clothes slopping around the drum reminding you that its running at all. Depending on the programme selected, the wash action varies from very active (whites etc) to sedate (delicates). The quality of the washes themselves are particularly good, we've never had to put items back in for a "second go" as with previous machines. The drum features "dual lifters" which are designed to pick up and pour more soapy water over the clothes than on other machines - additionally they provide increased movement - it's hard to describe so I'll let you go to Comet to see for yourself!

Rinse cycle:

Rinses are pretty good and while the clothes seem to be well rinsed there i
s f
requently residue foam inside the lower part of the door. LG claims the machine has a "suds removal" system which works to flush the machine of excessive foam if you use too much powder, however we have yet to try this (and probably won't!!).

Spin cycle:

For those who's spin cycle always seems to coincide with Eastenders, you should definitely buy one these washers! The maximum noise level is just 54db which to explain to the layman, means you can be in the same room as it and talk without shouting while it's going flat out on a 1400rpm spin. If you've ever owned a noisy Hotpoint or Whirlpool then you'll immediately appreciate the difference and then wonder why they can't make washers this quiet since LG clearly do!

Not only is it quiet but it's also stable - You'll probably never see this washer tango across the room even if you forget to adjust the stabiliser legs when you install it.

Wash cycle finished the machine tunefully "cuckoos" several times and the time remaining display changes to "end". The clothes come out as dry as you would imagine from a 1400rpm spin, while 1000rpm does rather better than I'd have expected.

Maintenance and reliability:

We had an unlucky habit of having "lemon" washing machines - we once rented a Whirlpool that became a BER after just 6 months. We've now had the machine since November 2001 and it's showed no signs of erratic behaviour or impending problems. The big bonus however is that if it ever goes wrong within 5 years the parts will be replaced for free, and if that happens within 2 years, the labour is also free. You really can't fault LG on this, they've clearly got serious faith in their product. LG themselves are a big company and so are almost certain to be around for the full 5 years.

Summary:

What can I say, for £500 you get a cool looking 7kg
capacity washer which is gives good results, is easy-to-use, quiet, stable and with an assured long term reliability. Although £500 is a lot for a washer, it's well worth it for something so well engineered. If you've not already noticed, we love this machine!

Availability:

Production of this model has been discontinued by LG but is still available from retailers. It has been replaced by the WM-1480FHD, which is essentially an update of this model with some programme and cosmetic improvements and as such is even more highly recommended.

Summary: