This item works, and the instructions are simple. But, I followed the directions, got it all set up for the first night, and . . . nothing. The next morning I pulled all the pins back up, then pushed them back down for the time I wanted, reset the current time exactly on the hour, and once again, it didn't come on. I went outside to fiddle with it and slid the button on the front to "on", which is supposed to keep the light on 24hrs, and the lights did come on. Then, I slid it back to timer, and the lights stayed on.
So, it turns out that when you get it set up, even if you want to use the timer, you have to slide it to "on", and then slide it back to timer. That wasn't stated anywhere in the instructions that I read several times. It just says to use "on" for always on or set it to the little clock for timer. Anyway, I finally got it working to come on early in the morning for a couple of hours right before sunrise, and a few hours at sunset. It is nice that I can do two different time a day. I do think it's odd though, that is says it's an "outdoor" timer, but the instruction clearly state that it can't be used in a "wet" area. I don't know if that means don't use it around the pool or if it's going to have problems when it rains.
Like other reviewers, I dislike the short, thick cord. On the outside of my house, the outlet is horizontal with a plastic weather cover. With the short, thick cord and the flat plug, I couldn't get it plugged in, and then get that thick cord to bend enough to go through the cutout at the bottom of the cover. So, I wound up plugging the extension cord into the outlet, then plugging the timer into the extension cord, then plugging the lights into the timer.
In the end, it's decent for the price, but if I had it to do over I would get a timer without the flat plug and a longer cord to address the problems with the outlet weather cover on my house. Now, I have to look for an outlet cover that may work better with the timer so that I can get it set up as it should be.