We loved ours! We had an older Splendide (labeled Karibe) combo washer/warmer. As it was the non-vented type, it did not actually "dry" clothes, but it made them "drier". As liveaboards with a 5-yr old child (she was two when we moved aboard), we NEEDED to be able to wash clothes fairly frequently. So the unit was well used, typically weekly, until it died right before we left last summer for the Broughtons.
As much as we wanted a new combo from Splendide, the space for the washer will not accommodate the deeper vented models (even the shallowest units would stick out over stairs about 3.5 inches). And as we were leaving on a two-month trip the following week and did not want to be without the ability to at least wash clothes, my wife found a portable Panda RV washer/dryer online for about a tenth the price - and a quarter of the weight. With a smaller overall footprint it has done the job just fine, though it's more labor intensive in that it doesn't automatically run through the various cycles (you have to physically fill the wash tub and fill it again for rinse, and manually switch to drain which it does semi-automatically). And the dryer is one of those high-speed spinners, but the clothes actually come out drier than they did with the old unit.
Robot Check
With the new unit as with the old one, we dry clothes one of two ways. During the winter here in Port Ludlow, we wash all the clothes (multiple loads) and dry them in the marina's laundry room. It's a huge commercial dryer that drys everything all at once. In the summer when we're out cruising/working, we hang the clothes on the aft deck and never have to come ashore for laundry.
Long story short, we think having a washer/dryer on board, especially for long-term cruising or livingaboard, is essential. For now, we will keep using the Panda washer until such time as we figure out how to shoe-horn in a new Splendide...