I have been using an Orbit 3-zone unit for many years, and it works great, but the Orbit can only schedule every certain number of days, not schedule per day of week, and my local jurisdiction requires watering only on certain days in each week, so with the Orbit, I have had to tweak it every week. This Melnor unit has day-of-week scheduling, so I won't have to keep tweaking it every week. I just got it, and have programmed it before installation, so I can't testify to reliability yet, but if anywhere as good as the Orbit reliability, I'll be happy, and I'll update my review if any problems. Big word of advice: Install it where the sun won't shine directly on it, because most plastics beak down with prolonged sun light. Also, in an area covered from rain. Years ago, my first Orbit timer only lasted a year or two, but it was exposed to the sun; then I put up a board to block the sun with my next one, and it has been flawless for over 4 years, and the batteries even last over 2 years (full 365). I hope the Melnor lasts that long. Note that first time programming is somewhat confusing, because you can't enter the time/duration for any zone that you haven't yet entered the days for, so the first time, when you enter the days, enter the days for all zones to begin with, so when you go to the time/duration settings, all the zones will be there, i.e. if you did not enter the days for a zone, you can't select that zone when you are in the time/duration settings. Also, don't confuse the ABCD optional 4 schedules per zone for the zones, which I did the first time. If you only want one watering time, per day, per zone, just enter the A schedule, and leave the other BCD schedules blank. Once I got the days and schedule A entered for all zones, then it became clear, and altering the start time or duration can be done in easily the "start water" and "how long" menus.