Kikkerland Penguin Kitchen Timer

and I'm glad I finally gave in and bought him. He's as cute as the picture and works like a charm.Reading other comments I hesitated but then I began thinking. Folks, I've yet to see a mechanical twisting-type timer that DIDN'T click. I've yet to see a mechanical twisting-type timer that you DIDN'T need to twist all the way and then back to set it (so that the tension is correct.) I'm not trying to be snide, but in my opinion, that's like complaining you can't set it to the second. And as far as the volume of the bell...its 2 inches in diameter and made of plastic...did you expect a foghorn????? If you have to leave the room before you think it will ding, I hope it's not toooooo heavy for you to take with you--ok, that was a little snide, but I mean really! :-)Finally, regarding how long it may last....again 2" and plastic...treat it gently, don't throw it around, don't put it next to a REALLY hot heat source so the poor thing doesn't get too hot (for example my apartments "vintage" oven vent is at the back of the stove top and actually melted my poor plastic tomato mechanical timer because I put too close), and keep it clean. It should last quite well for a $6.00 timer. If it doesn't work when you buy it or it stops after a light amount a use, return it (I hope a customer who might buy one that doesn't work on the very first go-around returns it--manufacturing errors do occur.)

I have at least 3 digital timers in my kitchen. None are as easy to set as this one. Yes, you do have to "wind it up" by turning the dial to 55 minutes, then back to the time you need, but it's all a single motion, not having to push a button repeatedly.Besides, he is so cute we named him Godfrey. Did I mention you can also hear the bell from the next room, even over the chattering of a 3 year old?Buy this, if only for the smile every time you see him on the shelf.

A timer is not a difficult item. This one is adorable, and my son loves how it looks, but it is getting returned because it does not function as a timer. I even replaced the first one thinking maybe it was defective, but the second one was only marginally better.First, the ringer does not ring at 0. The first penguin we received went off at 5 minutes. The second went off around 30 seconds. A timer should ring at 0. This is probably not even a hard thing to fix if you open the timer up, but I don't know that I won't break it if I do that, and I don't want to waste my money trying to fix something that arrived broken.Second, the ringer is barely even noticeable. It rings for about half a second and is very quiet. I didn't even realize it was the ringer with the first penguin until I had played around with it a few times to try to figure out how to make it ring.

This little penguin time is SO cute. I think I squealed when I saw him. I'd buy him again just to have as a piece of kitsch art. I smile when I look at him. So, how does he actual work as a timer. Not so great. The bell is not loud enough to hear from any distance and the ring is just a few seconds.It works for me because I take it to my office or bedroom to remind me to change the laundry or some other thing I need to do. So the bell doesn't have to be loud or long.So what I am saying is that it is either Good or Bad depending on how you are going to use it. But, he is awfully cute.

I tested my mouse timer against the digital timer that is built into the (new) range. Each test, the timers have gone off within a few seconds of each other. The reason for the small discrepancy is that his dial is also completely analog rather than digital. You can point his nose to any spot, directly on a mark or not. So the differences are partly my fault. He must take some of the blame, however, because his nose is the pointer, and it's hard to line up a round pointer with a line on a dial. That part of the design could be better; I'm going to add my own mark under hist nose.Some of these kikkerland animal timers are taller, but I love that the mouse model has such a low, stable profile. It's just not possible to knock it over.Anyway, just in case you wonder why I'm buying a cheap mechanical timer when I have a digital stove timer AND a phone AND a computer: it's because digital timers are just too much work to set. Mine slowly counts up in increments of 5 minutes, so I have to stand there with my finger on the button for a long time if I want to time something for 55 minutes. I also have to press several different buttons just to let the stove know that I want to commence a-settin' the timer, do the slow count-up, then press Start to make it go. (Heh. Maybe it's a safety feature, to prevent children and the insane from accidentally setting the timer.) I time things all day, so setting needs to be fast and easy. Mousie's one twist to 60 and one twist back to my desired time limit, has substantial advantages over digital timers for me. Some things have simply not been improved by throwing excessive technology at them, especially when the people who design them have never set foot in a kitchen or lab.I was going to buy one of the ugly standard analog timers and just deal with the way it looks. I'm really glad I found such an adorable one to get instead.

It's cute, loud and somewhat easy to use, we used it a few times a day for 6 months until it recently stopped working. The internal mechanism stop clicking indicating that it was winding up, and therefore the bell no longer rings. I don't know if it was exactly accurate as we used it more as a countdown to bedtime, dinner, stopping or starting an activity, etc. for our toddler. It served it's purpose while it lasted. Do make sure to follow the directions for winding up in order for it to function correctly.Overall, this is more for novelty- another timer would probably work just as fine and last longer. Next time around I'm going to try another timer.

I Love it!it keeps good timing when I am cooking.