I personally use these for all my timers, never have any problems with them. The only time I have to mess with them is when I shorten the light periods in winter and if the power goes out(which rarely happens here). There is an analog and a digital version, I use the digital I find them easier...
I used a $15 digital one I found at Walmart... it worked just fine, wasn't anything particularly fancy or durable, but it worked fine. It's up to you, you can pay more for a really nice, easy to use one, or get some cheap thing (that might not work as well) at Walmart.