Budget Clothes Dryers

Basic dryers are a good value

According to ConsumerReports.org, spending more on a dryer won't necessarily buy better performance. Lower-priced dryers may lack specialty cycles like speed dry, but these can usually be reproduced with standard settings. As long as your dryer offers a choice of heat settings, timed vs. automatic drying and a few fabric types (such as cotton, delicates and permanent press), it should be able to handle any type of laundry. Many dryers costing less than $700 score just as well for drying performance as more expensive dryers in independent tests, but they generally score lower for convenience. We also saw more reliability complaints for dryers in this category.

In this price range, we found the best reviews overall for the Samsung DV210AEW/XAA (*Est. $625) . This 7.3-cubic-foot electric dryer includes such basic features as a moisture sensor, an interior light, a reversible door (so it can sit on either side of the washer) and an electronic control panel with an LED screen. It has seven preset drying cycles and four temperature settings, as well as a wrinkle-prevention feature (which tumbles clothes intermittently after drying is complete to keep them from creasing). This dryer is available only in white and is backed by a one-year warranty; the electronic control board is covered for two years. It can be stacked with the front-loading Samsung WF210ANW/XAA (*Est. $700) .

The Samsung DV210AEW/XAA fares reasonably well in professional tests. In one independent review, it achieves excellent scores for capacity and drying performance, with very good scores for convenience and noise level. We found about 75 user reviews for this dryer at BestBuy.com and Lowes.com, with scores averaging about 4.2 stars out of 5. Owners praise this dryer's fast, quiet drying performance and its multitude of options and settings, but we did see several complaints about its durability. Several users at Lowes.com say their machines broke down within the first two years, often several times in a row. Many owners also express frustration with the dryer's various alert sounds, which they say are persistent, annoying and almost impossible to turn off. One user at BestBuy.com accidentally found a way: Push and hold the mixed load button on the upper right. "It would be nice if this had been easy to discover, since the information appears neither in the user manual nor on Samsung's website," this user says.

The gas version of this dryer, the Samsung DV210AGW/XAA (*Est. $700) , receives only a handful of reviews at BestBuy.com and other sites, all of which average about 4 stars out of 5. Owners like the dryer's large capacity, quiet operation and variety of features. However, one user says it "ties clothes in knots" and another says it simply doesn't get clothes dry, no matter how small the load. (This sounds like a faulty heating element, as the user says the dryer "never really got hot.")

The GE Profile PTDS650EMWT (*Est. $675) is the only dryer we found in the budget price range that includes a steam setting for refreshing and dewrinkling clothes. The 7-cubic-foot dryer also includes a moisture sensor, rotary dial controls, an interior light, a reversible door and an LED countdown display that shows the time remaining in the drying cycle. There are five heat settings and 11 drying cycles, including an antibacterial cycle. This basic dryer comes only in white. The warranty covers parts and labor for the first year, parts only for the second year, and the drum and main control panel for another three years. The matching washer is the top-loading GE Profile PTWN6250MWT (*Est. $600) .

The Good Housekeeping Research Institute recommends the GE Profile PTDS650EMWT for its bargain-priced steam setting, which they say did better than any other machine at getting wrinkles out of a cotton dress shirt. In other professional testing, however, the dryer's performance is unremarkable. It does get excellent results for drying performance, but its convenience and noise level are merely average. Still, this machine might have earned a Best Reviewed recommendation if we had been able to find a significant number of user reviews for it. We found only one comment at AJMadison.com and one at HomeDept.com, and while both praise the dryer's large capacity and quick drying, they hardly offer a sufficient picture of its performance. We couldn't find any user reviews at all for the gas version of the dryer, the GE Profile PDTS650GMWT (*Est. $725) .

The Amana NED7300WW (*Est. $550) is another budget dryer that gets good overall reviews. It's smaller than most dryers covered in our sources (only 6.7 cubic feet) and it includes only the most basic features: a moisture sensor, a reversible door and push-button controls. It has six drying cycles and four temperature settings, and it's backed by a one-year warranty. This dryer is available only in white; the matching washer is the front-loading Amana NFW7300WW (*Est. $575) .

The editors of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute recommend this dryer, saying, "If excellent performance from standard cycles is all you're after, the Amana NED7300WW is your machine." Of all the dryers in their tests, editors say, this one worked the fastest, drying a small load in just more than half an hour and a large load in one hour. However, the dryer achieves more mixed results in another professional test: While its drying performance and noise level are very good, it gets only fair results for convenience. Users at Buzzillions.com and HomeDepot.com disagree; many of them praise this machine's ease of use, as well as its fast drying performance. However, the 20-plus reviews we saw give the dryer an overall rating just below 4 stars out of 5 due to poor reliability. Owners report problems with both the heating element and the relay board, generally arising in the second year of the machine's life. One user says the dryer has broken down twice in only two years. We saw no such complaints about the gas version of this dryer, the Amana NGD7300WW (*Est. $625) , but found only four reviews for this dryer altogether (at HomeDepot.com), so this may not be a large enough sample to give an accurate picture of the gas dryer's performance.

For those with really tight budgets, the Admiral AED4475TQ (*Est. $350) is one of the most inexpensive dryers available. It has only the most basic features, including a moisture sensor, five cycles and three temperature settings, and its 6.5-cubic-foot capacity is a bit smaller than average. There's also no delicate cycle or interior light, but the dryer does include a reversible door. The dryer is available only in white and is covered by a one-year warranty. The matching top-loading washer is the Admiral ATW4475XQ (*Est. $350) .

Admiral washers and dryers are sold only at Home Depot, and more than 200 reviewers at HomeDepot.com give the Admiral AED4475TQ an overall rating of 4.2 stars out of 5. Most are very pleased with its fast, quiet drying and easy-to-use controls, although some complain about long drying times -- as long as three hours for a small load, according to one user. Also, the timed cycle is only 30 minutes, and some owners say that's not long enough for most loads. Most complaints about this washer are related to durability. We read reports of product failures for parts ranging from the timer to the motor anywhere from seven months to 18 months after purchase. The Admiral AGD4475TQ (*Est. $450) , the gas version of this dryer, also gets good reviews at HomeDepot.com, averaging 4.5 stars out of 5 from more than 50 users. Most owners call it a great bargain, but we did see a few complaints about long drying time, noise and poor durability. This dryer has not been reviewed in any professional sources.