Ash.
Choice says quite the opposite - that the front loaders do better at cleaning than the top loaders. I also understand that some of the sensitive rinse cycles on front loaders leave substantially lower levels of washing chemicals in the wash than top loaders even though they use less water. Yes, I know that's counter intuitive. That's important for us, because my wife reacts to clothes or sheets that have residual levels of chemicals.
Oh, and our Asko front loader allows you to interrupt a cycle to add more clothes or whatever.