Taylor 5849 Four-Event Digital Timer with Whiteboard for School, Learning, Projects, and Kitchen Tasks, white

I really like this timer. I actually got it to count how much time a pottery kiln was operating (at high power, and at low power) so I could figure out how much electricity was being used. For this purpose, I use two timers, both in count-up mode, but only one timer actively counting (the high-power timer, or the low-power timer, depending on how the kiln is set). A pottery kiln needs to operate for many hours, and this timer can count to more than 24 hours. But I also use the timer in the kitchen for various purposes. For example, sometimes I'm far enough away from the microwave that I can't hear the beep when it's done. So I set a timer to count down the desired time value, and carry the timer with me into the other room so it can remind me when the microwave is done. Also, it's common for microwave cooking instructions to tell you to let the food stand for five or ten minutes after the microwave shuts off. In this case, I set the timer at the same time I start the microwave, but set the timer for five or ten minutes longer. Then I can just wait for the timer to beep, indicating dinner is ready.There are four separate timers, each of which can count-up or count-down, and each of which can be set, started, paused/resumed, stopped, or reset, independently from the other timers. The operational buttons only affect one timer, and you select which of the four timers by pressing the EVENT button. This shows a "TIME" icon in front of the timer you will be affecting, and the icon moves from one timer to another as you repeatedly press the EVENT button.To make a timer count down, press the HR and MIN buttons as desired to set an initial time value. You can press HR or MIN repeatedly, or you can hold down the button to scroll the value quickly. The minutes value scrolls to 59 then wraps around to 00 without affecting hours. The hours value scrolls to 24 then wraps around to zero. Therefore the biggest count-down time you can enter is 24 hours and 59 minutes. You can not enter seconds, you can only enter whole minutes. However as the timer counts down, once it gets below one minute, it will show the final seconds counting down, you just can't enter seconds for an initial value.To start the count down, press the START/STOP button and the time value will start counting down. You can press the START/STOP button again to pause the timer, then press START/STOP again to resume, as many times as you want. When the count reaches all zeros, the timer starts beeping, and will beep for quite a while until you press START/STOP.Any timer that displays 00 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds will operate as a count-up timer. The easiest way to get all zeros is to reset the timer (see below). Once the time value has been reset to all zeros, press START/STOP and the timer will start counting up, press START/STOP again to pause, again to resume, etc. Also, once an active count-down timer counts down to all zeros and starts beeping, it also automatically starts counting up, until you press START/STOP to stop the timer (and the beeping).To reset a single timer, press the HR and MIN buttons together, and the timer with the TIME icon will reset to all zeros. To reset all four timers, press the HR, MIN, and EVENT buttons together. Note that an actively counting timer won't reset, you have to pause the timer first before resetting it.It's important to note that all four timers are independent, and the button presses only affect the timer that has the TIME icon in front of it. So for example, you can set an HR/MIN value in timer 1 to make it count down, and start it counting, then reset timer 2 to all zeros to make it count up, and start it counting, then set timer 3 to count down, but a different value than timer 1, and start it counting, then reset timer 4 to all zeros but leave it inactive. Then you can pause timer 1, then pause timer 2, all without affecting timer 3 or 4, then resume timer 2, then resume timer 1, then pause and reset timer 1, then start counting up on timer 4, etc. Just remember to press the EVENT button to select the desired timer before you use any of the other buttons.There are a few relatively minor issues:- It has no on/off switch, so once you put the batteries in (two AAA batteries, which are included), the display stays on continuously. This used to bother me, and I used to take the batteries out, but eventually I got tired of doing that and decided just to leave it on all the time.- There is no backlight, so the display can be hard to read in dim light.- It has a couple of magnets on the back so you can stick it on your refrigerator, but this is not a very secure mounting method so I don't use it. While you are pressing buttons on the timer, it can slide around a bit, and even pop off the refrigerator and fall.- It has a tilt-out arm in the plastic base so you can stand the timer up, but the tilt-out arm is so flimsy I'm sure it would break right away, so I don't use it. You don't really need a stand - you can press the buttons just fine while the timer is laying on a flat surface, or while holding it in your hand.As an engineer, I think it's a pretty neat and powerful gizmo, and if I was a kid, it would be a pretty cool kid toy.

I use timers for a lot of different tasks, and need to be able to track 15 minute intervals, 24 hour intervals, and everything in between. I really wasn't that happy with another Taylor model multi-timer, but decided to test out this model. The button configuration is quite different and that makes all the difference.With this timer, there's the obvious advantages of 1) the whiteboard to help keep track of which task is finished, and 2) 4 timers displayed at once. There is also a feature that I haven't seen in other multi-timers - it only takes three button presses to stop the alarm and restart the timer to repeat the previous interval. That is a huge advantage for me. For contrast, a different Taylor multi-timer takes 6 button presses to accomplish the same thing.For some, the inability to set seconds could be a problem, although it is easy enough to work around - to set the timer for 2 minutes 30 seconds, set the timer for 3 minutes then let it run down for 30 seconds and pause it. At that point the timer is ready to go for 2:30.The alarm is loud - very loud. Each timer has its own alarm sound, but I've yet to match alarm sound with the timer, so this feature is meaningless for me.There are not very many timers that can count down 24 hours, but this one can, and that's a huge plus for me.The magnets are not strong enough to hold the timer securely on my refrigerator (an inconvenience that doesn't affect me as I don't keep the timer there, but I test that feature anyway). The whiteboard pen works well and securely attaches to the timer.

This is a great timer for me - before I got this, I was setting my 2 wind-up timers, my watch, and my phone, just to try to keep track of things. But then I'd forget which timer was for which food item, and it was frustrating. I figured, for the price, this would be worth a shot since it works on 4 things at once.I was surprised at how small it is, but the display numbers are large enough, as long as you are looking more directly at it (you only see shadows if the unit is lying flat on the counter). The strong magnet on the back helps with this, as you can place the timer unit anywhere. The small overall size and light weight make it easy to store this unit - it takes up a lot less space on its shelf than my old wind-ups do.The whiteboard is just large enough for me to identify each timer - that's my favorite part: not just keeping all the timers in one place, but knowing what each is for. The eraser on the dry-erase pen works well, but I do occasionally clean the board with a damp paper towel. My only knock about ease of use is that the operating buttons are small and close enough to each other that it's not easy to reset the timers with one finger. The button placement could be just slightly redesigned to allow 1-finger resets, where the pressure required of the buttons in general would still keep you from resetting accidentally.The loud beeping was eye-opening at first, but I've come to appreciate it, as I'm getting older and some of the electronic beeps on our appliances are not registering on my hearing as easily as they once did. I wasn't clear on the benefit of the fact that the timers keep running after they reach 0, even though I read about it in the product description, but they start counting up (or down, if you have timed up) - so I always know exactly how long something has been on the stove if I can't turn off the timer right away. This seems rather innocuous, but it's saved our dinner a few times, and a cake just this morning. Overall, this timer unit is a game changer for me.