This seemed the best choice for the functions I needed, without paying for too many functions I wouldn't use.
The unit is big but somehow manages to be unobtrusive: The contrast on the display is enough so I can read the display from across the room, but low enough to not be in your face. It blends in well, and I find the layout and design of it very pleasant.
The instructions are basic but time and date are very easy to set. Hold "mode" button for 2sec, and the first adjustable value starts flashing ("24hr" in my case). Press "Adj" button to change the value (for example "24hr" to "12hr" clock mode, or press repeatedly when setting time or date to make the numbers go up). When you've set the value you want, press "mode" to go to the next value.
There's one thing I really don't like: It makes an ear-piercing beep sound every time you press a button. It's about as loud as the battery warning beep on my smoke alarm, and as far as I know it can't be switched off. (That kind of customizability would be too much to ask at the price, but I wish I'd known.)
So no chance of checking min/max temp or setting the alarm or anything like that without making half the house jump/wake up. I'm contemplating trying to disable (well, destroy) the beeper element, since I can do without the alarm function.
If you, however, have impaired hearing or difficulty waking up this could be a big plus. I have a disabled partner who has sound hypersensitivity, so for us it's a minus.
The other thing is quality control. The plastic and screen of the unit look great, sturdy, not cheap looking at all. Proper ABS plastic. BUT they seem to have been assembled in a rather dusty place. The unit was blister packed, so it's not to do with dusty storage, it's inside the pack and, sadly, even inside the unit. There is dust and some grime in all the seams and annoyingly there are a couple of small white plastic flakes stuck behind the screen cover, right in the middle of the display. I'm sure I'd get a replacement if I asked, but I'd feel that weighing on my eco karma. The thing does it's job! So I'll clean the outside and accept the flakes as an element of character. ;)
So, good job unknown chinese company, but sort out that dust, can't be good for your employees either.