A mechanical-dial dryer that costs under $650 and delivers exactly that experience: six years of service if you're lucky, a drawer full of replacement thermal fuses if you're typical. The heating element and fuse failures happen often enough that repair techs spot the pattern before you finish describing the symptom, and appliance pros place Amana a tier below old Maytag or Kenmore for a reason. Buy it if you need the cheapest tumbling available and can handle basic repairs yourself. If you want a dryer that doesn't become a hobby, spend the extra $300 on a midrange model with a track record.
Speed Queen builds this dryer like a laundromat workhorse: heavy steel, mechanical timer, heating elements you can swap yourself in five minutes. The catch is you're flying blind without a moisture sensor, guessing at cycle times on every load, and one 2022 unit caught fire mid-cycle from a confirmed malfunction. Buy it if you want a 20-year tank you can fix with a screwdriver and accept babysitting timed cycles. Skip it if auto-dry convenience or modern safety engineering matter more than repairability.