Toro53855 XTRA 8 Zone Timer Smart-Pack Weather Sensor

As a previous Toro timer owner, I gravitated to this Smart Timer, so the transition won't be too hard, and I was right.All the settings are in the usual places, and transferring the wires to the new timer took no time at all.However, the weather sensor took a 10 minutes to install (really, just need to find a good location to screw the module on), and the computer download, does not support Mac!Major bummer, as I have been a Mac user for over 12 years. Had to go to my brother's house that's an hour away to download the historical data onto the SmartPod. I emailed Toro tech support, which I never gotten a response.Once I had access to PC, the download was a breeze. Even though I hadn't touch a PC in 8 years, the process took less than 10 minutes.The entire "smart" portion of the timer is well designed, and require no additional attention to get it to integrate with the timer. Great product, but no Mac support.

I was not sure for the 1st few weeks, but then I discovered the 9v battery my system came with (for weather station) was not charged. After I replaced it the system seemed to operating as advertised. However, after a couple more days the system failed again. I have now contacted Toro Customer Service four (4) times (actually more, but I have actually spoken to someone 4 times) and the system still does not work properly.My Timer is supposed to determine the current weather and adjust the watering time as needed. The system I purchased failed to start the watering cycle. Toro customer service sent me a replacement Smart Pod (after sending me the wrong replacement part twice) and the replacement also does not work. When I asked what I could do next, they told me to read the Toro XTRA online Forum to see if I could find more answers. I did this, but found the Forum to be very dated with most posts from 2008-2012. No information was found about Smart Pod problems. My biggest concern is that customer service advised me there is no computer/software support for this TORO product. They told me if I wanted I could box my system up and mail it to them so they could figure out what is wrong with it.I can still water my lawn utilizing the manual watering feature included with the timer.

Works perfect, money worth, we mounted the outdoor sensor with a line of sight. Easy to change settings since you have on your notebook computer the mini app and saved file. Easy to connect the antenna unit from the unit and to connect to your pc for downloading your updatet schedule. Nice presettings for your time zone with an easy selection of grass, trees etc per zone. You easily can override and save. Awesome product. You can adjust at the rain sensor the amount of rain to switch off the unit for 1 or more days. Also if you have a zone with restricted water / days you can water, all possible. Runs since 3 months now flawless.

Adequate product but could use some technical improvement, especially in the way teh unit fits together after battery change. It also requires care in placement to ensure corerect temperarture and rainfall amount are obtained.

Ordered because it has the wireless rain sensor built-in and our local water company is offering a full rebate. Good price and easy to use. I programmed the smart-pod online but wound up adjusting all the settings with the timer control. The trick is to use the settings for July (heaviest demand month in the central valley of Calif.) and then use the percentage settings to adjust the water usage by month. For our local clay-ish soil on a slope I run all 3 program settings at 4 minutes each an hour apart to minimize runoff. We're looking at water rationing this year and I want to both save water and minimize the impact on our water bill.

The software does not work with Mac

Ease of use

It's hard to find affordable 8 zone controllers. In addition, this is extremely easy to program. Would definitely buy again.