I'd stay away from front loaders, too may horror stories and seen freinds and family go through them like they are disposable. Usually with front loaders I've heard, cost twice as much and last half as long.
When we bought ours last year I did a shit load of research and found the LG top load high efficiency models were the best by reviews, warranty and options, but they were also the highest priced. We went with the Whirlpool Cabrio high efficiency tip loader, it had great reviews and got a bargin on them with sale prices and rebates at the time. Since we have had the set my electric bill has gone down substantially, due to the less water (on a well) water heater and the dryer being a sensor dryer. Going on about 10 months now and not a single issue it with them. And I swear our cloths come out cleaner now. I bought the second best model of the series just because we didn't want thr steam dryer option I think ours is the 7000 series of the Cabrio. After sale price and a couple rebates I think ours were about $1050 out the door.