Okay Tom I will make sure I post a totally honest review as soon as we have installed ours and I have actually run a load through it. I have heard a couple of things already from others I have chatted with:
1. You cannot do as large a load but that is not a problem for me. You want to give the clothing some room to move around.
2. The washing and drying in one is FANTASTIC (other people's opinion...I will let you know what I think).
3. Some people remove the clothing just before it is completely dry and let it hang outside to finish the drying because of 'less wrinkles'. I don't know how that would help a whole lot so I will test it out.
We ordered ours from Camping World and I got a pretty good deal on it. I used a coupon code (9597 I think...I will check for you when I can) and that gives you an additional 10% off even off of a sales price. There is a freight charge for the shipping $150 but the catalog that came just after I ordered it had the shipping at $75 so I called CW and they honored that. Then before I ordered I logged into Mr. Rebates and then chose Camping World which automatically gives you a 4% rebate once a few weeks has gone by. I can't remember my total cost but when I am NOT riding in a super bouncy truck that is pulling our trailer I will tell you exactly what I paid for it. The dealership wanted almost $1100 more than what I got it for!
Hope that helps! If you wife has specific things she wants me to try (to simulate your situation) let me know because I can do that for her and let her know how it works out!
As for the hole...I am not to keen on cutting anything either but it would NOT be the outside wall. I think I may have miscommunicated where the hole would be so I want to clarify. On our model the washer fits inside the cabinet with two doors. To the left of that is the closet. Another member stated that he cut a hole on the cabinet left side (inside the closet) to give him easy access to the back. He then covered the hole up with some nice wood to blend it in. Does that make more sense?
Let me know if she has any other questions.