The only drawback I've found with my front-load is that I can't open the door to add anything to the load once it's started, so that spare sock that typically turns up has to wait till the next load. 
Fran, you can slip that renegade sock into the wash by completely turning off the washer. Once the electricity has been disconnected, you will be able to open the door. Then start the wash anew, from the beginning of the cycle. It's advisable that you only do this, however, at the beginning of the wash, before the washer fills with water, for obvious reasons!
Here in Oz, we have a star rating system, whereby all appliances are given stars for fuel efficiency, etc. The more stars on the label, the more fuel efficient the appliance is.
When my old top loader died recently, I bought a new front loader for $520. Because it had a high star rating (principally gauged on water consumption with washers, I believe), Sydney Water (the entity that provides water to the Sydney area) offered a $150 rebate off all purchases. How that works is that I paid $520 to the store and they gave me a rebate form to fill out, which I posted to Sydney Water. A couple of weeks later, I got a $150 cheque in the post, meaning I only paid $370 for my beautiful new washer! No strings attached. Cool! It is a straight forward incentive from Sydney Water, to encourage people to do the right thing, environmentally!
