This item works well. (However the first one I bought already broke, well within a year, and I was very careful with it.) It can be set to vibrate (which is what broke) or to an audible alarm mode. I use it as a meditation timer, and it works well for that; I change techniques during my sessions, and since it has multiple timers, it's great to tell me when to do so. However, even in vibrate mode, it's far too loud to use while others meditate near you. Also, you can set a timer to go off, for example, at random times during the day, as a reminder to do something (like adjust one's posture). However, such random timers go off no matter what mode you're in. Thus, for example, if you're trying to time a meditation session, it may fail you, as the random timer might go off before the session is scheduled to end.
BTW, the instruction manual stinks, and I'm a tech kind of guy. I RTFM. (If you don't know what "RTFM" means, then you're not a tech person.) The manual is also extremely difficult to read (the WORST I've ever encountered), not just from a substantive point of view, but also from a visual perspective. The resolution (i.e. pixels per inch) is WAY too low. I strongly suspect that this item is sold mostly to sick people, to remind them to take their medicine. If their Meds. are to treat vision, just READING the manual may prove extremely difficult. I tried downloading the manual from ePill's website, and you get the same, awful manual. Furthermore, if I recall correctly (and I'm pretty sure I do), the manual is a .pdf that can't be edited. (I tried fixing it in Photoshop, but that proved impossible. If I recall, one can't even rasterize a single page, so it can't be edited.) What's the point of this? It makes NO sense.
However, despite it's awful instructions and unreliability over time--and maybe I just got a lemon off of the production line--I do recommend this item, given the near total lack of competition.
MARCH 2011 UPDATE TO THIS REVIEW:
Buy this instead:
Timer, Meditation; Invisible Clock IISeems to be essentially (or TOTALLY) the same thing, but with a slightly improved interface and more readable instructions. And, for some reason, it's like 1/2 the price (as of March 2011).
My only complaint about this Amazon-affiliated seller is that they don't put a .pdf file of the instructions on their website. Other than that, they seemed to be great. The item arrived far sooner than it was promised to me. I never had to do a return with them. Since THAT's the litmus test of a great retailer, I can't say for sure that they're great. This item seems to be made by one company (I THINK e-pill) for a bunch of other companies. Most or all of them seem to call it "Invisible Clock II," or some variation on that. Anyway, I went with the Laughing Buddha Trading version, and so far it seems alright.