I too have front loaders that are HE, I purchased my first set of them in 2001, just got my new ones a couple months ago and I love love love them. My old ones were still working great after 12 years, we remodeled and the color didnt go with the new laundry room, you can stack them on top of each other or put them side by side. I have had them both ways, my new ones are side by side and instead of purchasing the drawers that go beneath them my DH built me a platform to put mine on. Also on the He detergent you can still use regular detergent just not as much. As for the odor, with my old set I did notice that if I used liquid detergent instead of powder that is when I would get the odor, so I went back to powder and no problem, I have never had any problem of my clothes not getting wet everywhere no dry spots on them. I actually highly commend them. If you need to open the washer during the cycle all you have to do is hit the pause button.