I don't see any negatives in the front loader. It uses less water and electricity and it gets the clothes cleaner. It is also easier on the clothes. No more getting wrapped around the agitators.
I redid my laundry room last March, I have only had the basic stuff as long as the dryer heats up and goes around I was happy, I decided I needed more room in there to put in a half bath, I bought an LG front loader-my first one- and I love it. It is the one that also dries the clothes, I put everything in and go to work, I come home and they are washed and dried, it does a great job, I don't need the 220 line or the vent as the steam condenses and goes down the washer drain. Elec bill went down and uses so little water, they only issue is that I sometimes find one more sock but I can't add it to the wash because it is a front loader.
I bought the front load washer/dryer for daughter, she just loves it and would not switch back to top loaders. It saves money/detergent/electric bill.
I DETEST my front loader washer for the following reasons: -the cycle length is twice as long as my old top loader and while there is the option of a shorter cycle it does not do a very good job-also for my model it says the full cycle is 56 minutes but it routinely takes far longer-the manual says that 56 minutes is an estimate and it is not unusual for it to take longer -the clothes get all tangled up which is ok for jeans but not for sweaters which get stretched out of shape -the clothes do not come as clean- this is likely not readily apparent if you have clothes which do not get very dirty -the clothes do not smell as fresh and clean -I recently did laundry at my MIL's house and her top loader (not a HE model) washed my clothes in half the time and did a much better job For me, the major complaint I have is the length of the cycle.
I myself have not, but alot of people are. The newer high efficiency top loaders are supposed to do just as good as any front loader but allows you to go back to your cheaper detergent so your not dumping a fortune into the HE stuff. I hear someone talk about this subject about once a week at work. I've yet to own anything in the form of a washer that I didn't buy used out of the newspaper for around 50-100 bucks each. That includes my washer and dryer. Almost every week someone moves, upgrades, etc.. and their old one hits the classifieds. I save a fortune in appliances this way :-) I even have a spare dryer and washer set that's almost brand new in the garage just in case of a breakdown.. Think I gave 125 for the pair, still have the blue tape on the seams and corners. To me, these appliances need to get the job done, not be pretty. That's why the laundry room of yesterday has a door on it. I'll put my money into my most important appliances like the range and microwave, and of course my Keurig coffee maker!
