Customer Reviews

Learning Resources LER6900 Time Tracker Programmable Electronic Timer

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

We bought this to use as a timer for my daughter who is almost 4. We were all tired of the endless hassles involved in trying to get ready to go out, go to bed, and so on.

It has worked remarkably well. Now I can start the timer a half hour before we leave for preschool, and she knows when she has to start hurrying, and also realizes when she doesn't yet have to. When it announces "Time's up!", she knows that we're *going*.

Strong points are that the timer is colorful and attractive, and gives feedback in several ways. I can look at the digital display and know exactly how much time is left. My daughter can see the green, yellow, and red lights, and know roughly where she stands. The flashes before the color changes and the programmable audible feedback are very helpful, too. It just gives a lot of different ways for us to understand how much time is left.

The main drawback is that the controls are awkward. There is both a manual and an automatic mode, but they are both pretty similar. "Manual" means you set the amount of time for each phase, along with the optional sounds. "Automatic" means you set the total time, and the percentage of the total for each phase. Once you have a standard one set, you can reuse it (which is good for our 30-minute morning routine), but if you need to change it (like this morning, I only had 20 minutes) you have to do some button-pushing, and you need to choose the sounds for each phase as well as the time.

My guess is that we'll eventually settle on a couple of standard programs and just leave it at those. It's well worth using, regardless, but the awkwardness of the controls keeps me from giving this five stars.

One last note: the picture of the product is slightly misleading. The numbers on the digital display are quite small; about half as large as they appear in the picture. And the back of the tower is all solid blue: the colored lights are only on the front. That's not a problem, because you can see from a wide range of angles, but for some reason I thought the lights would be visible all around.

This item has definitely reduced the stress level on all sides. There is less nagging, less fussing, and more cooperation.

I bought this because my son dawdles when he does anything. The first night, we used it to get him to finish his dinner. It worked, but he didn't like it. Now, I just have to threaten that I'll bring out the timer and he gets going. We also use it for naptime. I don't require that he sleeps during naptime, only that he stay in his room for two hours. He had no concept of when that is. With the Time Tracker, he comes out when the light turns red (he does not get upset when used for this purpose). As for programming, I have no trouble programming it and it doesn't take long to change it. They could have made it more intuitive, but you just have to do it a couple of times to get it.

UPDATE:

We've had this unit for about four years. My daughter started using it when she was about three for her naps. It worked just as well for her as it did for my son. Unfortunately, it broke soon after we started using it with her. Great concept and wonderful to have when it was working.

We had high hopes for this product but as another reviewer has said, its engineering is HORRIBLE. I would only recommend this product if you always want to use the same time span. I say this because you can set a default time which is relatively easy to reuse.

The idea of 80% green, 15% yellow, and 5% red is great, but if you're hoping to enter 1-5-0-0-start and get a 15-minute 80/15/5 countdown, forget it. Every time I want to use the thing I have to go track down and re-read the documentation. Because of the difficulty in using it, we only use it for long tasks.

As I'm trying to figure out how to use it each time, I do so with gladness that there is no one timing me as I set the timer. :-/

My son came home from his first week of kindergarten speaking about this great timer that his teacher had -- if the timer went off, snack time was over. Period. He seemed so intrigued that I decided I needed to get one. IT IS AWESOME - at least for my two boys (ages 3 & 5). I give them 20 minutes to get out of bed & dressed in the morning and another 20 to eat breakfast. The timer shows GREEN, then turns to YELLOW when time is almost up; then turns RED. You can customize the sound effects for each color; and the amount of time to allow during each color. My kids have responded fabulously to the timer -- and we are always on time for school. I also use it as a sharing timer (if they fight over a toy, I set the timer and they take turns); and use it for play-time (you have X# of minutes to play before dinner, bedtime, etc.).

Time management is an important skill to learn, both as an adult and a child. I bought Time Tracker to provide a visual and audible basis for my three kids to learn time management. Piano practicing, computer game time, and to control how much time my teen is on the phone. This seemed like a great product concept to help us with our parenting. The lights and sounds worked as described, but no normal human being is going to be able to figure out how to program it. AND, once you have set and started the clock, there is NO WAY to stop it or reset it!!! You have to wait the full 30 or 60 minutes to start over!! We got tired of taking the batteries out to reset it every time we needed to adjust the time or start over. This product drove my family nuts.

I bought this timer for use in my special education classroom a year ago. I thought that it would be a fantastic tool-- a visual and auditory aid for the students, and a wonderful way of helping me organize their time.
HOWEVER, I have found the timer to ultimately be a bittersweet purchase. When it works, it is a godsend. But!!! I have had to send it back and get a replacement timer, and the replacement timer dies on me about every two weeks. I have done everything to get the timers to work. I have bought the a/c adaptor, changed the batteries, had my husband solder the a/c outlet, and overall, have wanted to throw the thing against the wall! The only reason that I haven't is because it is soooooo wonderful when it DOES work. But I think if I have to ask my hubby to fix it one more time, HE will throw it against the wall for me!

My 7 year old son has "task transition" issues. This item (which HE found in a magazine) has helped SO much I can't even begin to describe. We use it for EVERYTHING from eating meals (it used to take a million reminders just to get him through a meal), homework, cleaning room. We reward him when he completes the task within the "green" time, and we repremand him if he does not complete the task by the time the "red" goes off. This keeps him striving to manage his time and gives him immediate feedback as to his time allowance for an activity. My son's therapist (who is currently doing testing) loved the idea so much he ordered one for his patients. I am purchasing one for his teacher for him to use during school.

I teach 3rd Grade. This thing is PERFECT if you have a routine that lasts the same amount of time every day. For example, two times a day my class does some practice activities that last 11 minutes. I literally have to say NOTHING and they already know to get ready to correct their work when the lights starts flashing red. In terms of its positive effect on my class management, I probably save a good 3-4 precious minutes each day as a result of using the Time Tracker. I give it my highest teacher recommendation for using it for DAILY ROUTINIZED activities.

The problem with this thing is that it's a pain to program. It's not so much that it's difficult, but that it's not worth it considering the disturbance it would cause, as it is quite noisy to reprogram. The memory only allows for one 100% programmable slot (the other programmable slot is a little restricted). The TTVC would have gotten 5 stars if it had more memory slots for programming.

I bought this for my very creative, right-brained daughter who has little concept or concern for time. She hates to clean and pick up anything, but the TimeTracker has thrilled her. She can tell that when it's green she has 'plenty' of time, but when it's yellow she had better HURRY.

The drawback is the awkwardness of the settings-it takes awhile to get used to how to set it, but once learned, it's easy enough. Hopefully they'll continue to work to make it more similar to push button timers for programming. Also, when it arrives by mail, it may need to be reset. I had to call the company, and was told to insert a paperclip into a tiny hole above the AC adapter spot to reset it. Until I did that, it would not turn on, despite new batteries- caused by something in the scanning process of the mailing equipment.

I bought the Time Tracker to use at my office. I wanted a way to remind myself to get up every twenty minutes and stretch. Using a visual timer alerts you that the time has expired without alerting those around you. The Time Tracker has 6 choices of sounds, but you have the option of turning the sound down to nothing. The lights are bright and the digital screen is easy to read. It works well. I've used it for the past month and find it reliable and very useful.

My chiropractor suggested finding a visual timer to remind me to move around more. There are very few visual timers on the market. I have a desk job that requires a lot of concentration working on a computer. After 6 months of sitting, my posture gave way to back problems. Using the Time Tracker has helped me take more mini-breaks, and thus improved my ability to sit for long hours. I highly recommend it!

I have a few criticisms of the device. It takes awhile to figure out the instructions. The manual doesn't explain how to use the timer very well. The manufacturer made a simple, child-like manual, but it doesn't explain how to set the timer up very well. Once the mechanism is set-up, it is relatively simple to use. However, you have to go through a sequence of pressing 4 buttons to start the timer. If this timer is for children, why isn't it simpler? For the price, I think they could have designed it to be easier to use. Lastly, I wish they made a visual timer for adults. Something with a little more aesthetic.