Customer Reviews

Polder 605 Big Screen Timer, Gray

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

 

 

If you had set out to create a poorly designed kitchen timer, the Polder 605 Big Screen Timer would certainly make you happy on several fronts. Made out of flimsy plastic with a large display screen and simple bold black buttons, the sleek visuals of the Polder have their initial appeal. Putting it into use you realize quickly what a perverse genius designed this device. The alarm makes a high-pitched noise that is sure to put your entire household on edge. The thing is so top-heavy that if you attach it to your refrigerator via the magnet the slightest jolt will send the unit dangling upside down like a bat. In case you do manage to perch the thing upright just so, the upside-down wedge shape of the case makes it hard to read the display at anything much below eye-level.

When you go to turn it off it immediately starts counting back up again, as in a stopwatch, without you asking it to, so you must press the start/stop button two times if you really want it to stop, and then press both time buttons to zero it. As noted in another review, you cannot set it for less than a minute so the seconds are a mystery, unless it's in stopwatch mode, in which case the seconds are displayed. On the upside, unlike any other timer I have used before, if you have it set for an hour or more it helpfully beeps at ten and five minutes before zero. And the screen is nice and big, as advertised.

I suppose if you are planning to set it on your counter top instead of using the magnet, and didn't mind its screechiness and other quirks, you might get some use out of this unassuming unit. In our home it earns its one extra star by providing some comic relief after the holidays.

This product is unacceptable. It has no clear button and no display of the seconds during countdown. Thus, you don't know if you have 10 seconds till the end or 50. Also, since there is no seconds display, you cannot time anything less than a minute. You can only begin timing in minute increments. Honestly, for household use, this product is worthless. If you really need a timer, look elsewhere!

Other reviewers have done a good job so I'll keep it short.

Likes - Large easily read digits. Loud beep that you can hear from 3 rooms away. It's a pity none of the timers on the market have a High and Low volume switch to satisfy more users.

Dislikes - Poorly angled when you mount it on your fridge with the magnetic back. The magnet is glued to a hinged stand for placing vertically on a counter top. The hinge is a joke - it fits very poorly and falls off after a couple of rotations.

To reset the digits to zero, you have to press the HRS and MIN buttons simultaneously .
Don't waste your money on this one.

I just bought mine, so I don't know how long it will last. The alarm is loud enough for me, and I am middle-aged. For cooking, I don't need to time events to the second, so the lack of seconds display is not a problem. The display is hard to read if I use the stand and place in on the kitchen counter. If I lay it flat on the counter, the display is clear, but when I push buttons, it rocks and slides around because it is supported by the magnet in the center of the back. The magnet is barely strong enough to hold it up on the refrigerator. If I try to use the buttons while it's on the refrigerator, it rocks and slides and could fall off. The alarm sounds for one minute. If I silence the alarm by pushing the start/stop button, it starts counting up, so to use it again, I have to push the start/stop button again to make it stop counting, then push hours and minutes at the same time to reset it to zero.

This timer was bought because it was advertised as having a loud alarm. In using it, I had to hold it up next to my ear to hear the low clicks that it emitted for an alarm. I was looking for a timer similar to the Good Cook Countdown Timer/Stopwatch that can be heard a room away. Was able to find the Good Cook timer in a local grocery store, so have one that I can hear and use now.

It counts down, beeps at the 10 minute mark, and again at the 5 minute mark. It also counts up after the timer goes off, so it does its job. One thing to note though, and this will be the reason why I'll be getting another timer, there's "no on/off functionality."

What the heck?

Easy to read nice large numbers and easy to use. Price for value is average.