Fabulous!, November 18, 2009

Have used an old fashioned mechanical timer for years, and not infrequently, returned from being away and found that there had been a power outage, so the timer was wrong by the amount of time the power was off. Not the greatest thing when you're using it to make the place look occupied by turning lights on and off at appropriate times! Not long after we got this unit, we had a brief several minute power outage, and the battery backup of the settings worked as advertised.The reason we selected this specific unit was comments from other users that the internal batteries were user replaceable (a couple of button cells). A second factor was that it had to have a load-bearing capacity to handle an electric blanket - it does, and works fine.

We have candles in each of our windows hooked up to timers and have replaced many of the analogue ones over the years. I first bought model 38425 which is identical to 38424 (this one) BUT came in a package of 2; so they were half the price of 38424 (Amazon no longer sells 38425). Anyway, I bought 10 to try and loved them so I bought another 9: the best features are1. Extremely easy to use2. Large screen numerals3. Battery backup (a godsend as we typcially lose electricity in the summer and winter seasons)4. Will run without the batteries5. Does not block other outletAnother reviewer noted a con as only on-off once per day; but this is the reason I bought them. I had previously purchased another brand that had multiple settings...

PROS:- Easy to Program- Easy to Read Display- User Replaceable Backup Batteries (Two L44 button cell)- Runs Without Batteries- Takes Only One Slot In a Vertical Two Slot Socket System- Time and Switches can be set by as little as one minute- Override On Switch- No bright light emitting from the deviceCONS:- No Override Off Switch- Limited to only turn on and off once per day- Can take up two slots horizontally- No temporary backlit display featureDETAILED DESCRIPTION:I've owned a Woods digital timer and it worked fine until the internal battery died in it. The bad part about the Woods timer is that the battery wasn't user replaceable! As soon as I opened the package and saw the battery compartment I was excited to see this feature! I first bought this because it was the cheapest digital based timer switch I could find and it didn't mention anything about a backup battery in the unit...