Hotpoint WDD960A

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Excellent
Ease of use	Very easy
Durability	Satisfactory
Noise	Low
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	washes well, dries well, quiet (when properly installed)
Disadvantages:	installation instructions could be clearer

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

We got this after having managed for a year without the dryer part of our washer dryer, so anything that actually dried would have been very much appreciated. But even considering that it is far superior to the old one.

Programming
It's very easy to program and lets you know how long it's going to take. It has a child lock, which is an essential in our house with a curious toddler. You can program it without looking at the manual as it has clear symbols and an informative digital display.

Manual
The manual is reasonably clear, but could be clearer, in particular the installation instructions (see below). It gives details of the various programmes and guidance on the weights of clothes that can be washed and dried. And it gives some basic troubleshooting instructions, as well.

Washing
The washing is good, with various automatic programmes to choose from and the ability to adjust the temperatue and spin cycle. It benefits from a 1600 spin cycle, which gets a lot more water out than our old machine, and so cuts down on drying times.

Drying
This is pretty good. There are different options for iron dry, hanger dry and cupboard dry and you can also set it to dry for smaller chunks of time (smallest is 40 minutes, though, and it would be good to have a 10-minute option). You can include a spin in the drying cycle (in the cotton option), which is useful in reducing creases and there is also a reduce creases button (though I haven't used this, so cannot report on its effectiveness).

Noise level
For the most part, it's pretty quiet, but it can be loud when it spins. It's likely that this is down to incorrect installation (see below), though and, before purchasing, I read many reviews that commented on its very low noise levels.

Installation
I would strongly advise getting this installed professionally, if you can. If you can't, then make sure you absolutely do not miss out on taking out the transit bolts at the back. The installation instructions is not entirely clear about this, and does not include a picture to confirm that you're taking out the right thing. We ended up running it for a couple of months with the transit bolts in place. It made huge amounts of noise and was practically taking off whenever it spun. We spent hours sitting on the floor trying to adjust the feet to make it completely level. Eventually, I found a small bit on the Hotpoint website with a picture of the bolts and we pulled it out and discovered that they were there still. In fact, one of them had been cut in half.

Summary
Definitely a good quality (and efficient) machine which I would recommend, but please make sure the transit bolts are removed before you switch it on.