Customer Reviews

American Innovative Roadshow Lecture Timer

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the hardest things for me is staying within my time limits when speaking in front of my Toastmasters club. This little timer is exactly what I needed. It is easy to set up and use, and the visual indicators are easy to see. This should help me to keep within my time limits from now on. I was eager to see if the LED's were visible from 'behind' the timer. I wanted to know if this could be used by the time keeper at the club to show the time to the entire room. But the LED's are only visible from the front and from above the timer. So this will work great on the podium, but not for the entire room. Still... I love this clock and I'm going to recommend that my Toastmasters club buy their own.

Pro: (1) The countdown lights feature is simply ingenious. (2) Solid build quality. Will take abuse and will last. (3) Simple operation. (4) Clearly readable display. (5) Flush face operating buttons mean you're not going to accidently push a button while moving notes, etc.

Con: (1) The protective cover that shields the unit is extremely difficult to open. I removed mine; no small task seeing as how it's riveted into the case. Fire up your Dremel tool. (2) The buttons "click" or "clunk" too much and are clearly picked up in some podium/microphone scenarios. Soft touch buttons would solve that problem.

Wish: (1) That the protective cover could be more easily opened or that it was manufactured in such a way that the user could choose to easily remove it altogether. (2) That the lights were arranged so that they would not be be visible to the audience if you're working in the open and the unit is lying flat on a table. A slightly angled display (like on many hand held calculators) would solve that. (3) That a model was offered with a small, stereo .mp3 recorder with a swing-out USB plug built in (like a Flip video recorder) so you'd have your timer and recorder, a speaker's two main tools, all in one unit with no cables to carry. (4) That I had this device 30 years ago and that every speaker had one today!

Bottom line: You'll search the world in vain for a better speaker timer. This is the one to buy; easily a five star product. To the manufacturer: very well done, just keep refining it.

It gave out on us shortly after purchasing. It's not the battery - just a dud maybe?

The batteries come installed, with a plastic strip that needs to be removed. Removed it, no display. Used a paperclip to press the reset button; display disappeared as soon as I released the button. Tried swapping batteries, since the left one controls the display, and then the display worked. So at least one battery was bad. I replaced all three batteries (the brand name, if it is a brand name, is in Japanese or Chinese) with new Eveready batteries, #2032. The product works fine. But you should have some 2032 batteries available in case you have the same problem.

This was the second once I bought from the company. The first one didn't work and I sent it back through Amazon immediately. When the second one didn't work I decided to call the company - and they quickly deduced that it needed fresh batteries - which I received within a week. So now it works great! This little timer does exactly what they say it will do. I do wish it had some sort of vibrate alert in addition to the changing colored lights.

I bought this to time speakers at a debate but it only does hours and minutes not seconds. The instructions are not good, but for one hour speaches I suppose it would work fine. Still looking for a debate timer with lights.