@renegade - I agree with superczar. go for a small fully automatic because you can run it unattended.
The semi-autos require you to be around to turn on and off the water and also transfer the wash from the wash drum to the spin drum.
speaking of the weird looking contraption, I had one exactly like it about 25 years ago. Mine was French (machine not maid) and had a plastic tub too on which the contraption clipped. Cost me 1200 bucks from a customs disposal sale. Worked well for a few years after which the tub part was unable to handle the heat and humidity of amchi mumbai. It started disintegrating and each time I used to patch it with araldite and keep it going. The impeller part remained in fine working condition all that while.
Edit: Sorry I did not see your last post that you have already bought your machine.