I was contemplating with Hitachi , samsung and panasonic washing machine. The prices are competitive with one another. I bought Panasonic NA-F80H1 a few days ago and paid $549 during in house promotion, the usual price is $599. It is a 8 kg load , features aquabeat plus, Ag crystal shower, foam wash, twin washboard, anti bacteria pulsator. I washed dark color clothings like black and it was clean, unlike my old machine I can still see traces of dirt on the fabric.
Didn't choose Samsung because the top cover panel is tempered glass, find it risky cos I am very clumsy and bamboo poles always fall and hit the washer cos the sales rep said it cost nearly $200 to replace the glass panel.
Hitachi is one of my choice but not my budget, the good point is you can control the spin speed power at 400/600/800 to match different types of fabric.
My view is all machines have different features to highlight their products. You must know what you want. For me , I needed a Ag crystal shower to wash baby clothes and price not more than $550 so Panasonic is my choice. All warranty covers the internal motor parts only but not the sensor board. I won't pay high price to electrial applicances cos they depreciate fast as new models with tip top features come in quickly so there's no way for us to follow the trend.