I do not like the HE washers at all!! Had to replace my 24 year old Kenmore with agitator. Bought the top of the line Samsung HE top loader, it has no agitator and I don't feel like my clothes are clean. I too noticed that the machine did not allow enough water to cover your clothes no matter which cycle is chosen. My HE has a glass lid so I can see what is going on. The lid also locks and if you pause the machine because you forgot toss in a sock, the machine will go into a drain when you shut the cover again so there goes all of your detergent....very annoying!! Another annoying thing with these machines is that they take so much longer to do a load. Now that is not saving energy, that is using more electricity.
I figured out that while loading my laundry into the machine and before I shut the lid and hit the start button I pour in 2 small buckets of water on top of the clothes and it tricks the washers brain into thinking there is a heavy load in the machine and it will actually give you more water. I also find I am using more detergent than with my old machine. Sorry, but I just don't like it...