Mr.Al-
after reading your post, I think I can pretty much do what I need with timers.
1. for high-current items like drills, I'll get the "manual" 24 hour timer, and every time its used: 1) turn the power switch to on; 2) turn the dial so it runs for 24 hr, but then only comes on 1 hr a day after that. Note; this ignores setting the timer to the actual time.
2. for a laptop, I'll get a digital timer and set it to come on every couple of hours long enough to keep the laptop charged, then turn off overnight. That way it keeps the laptop charged during the day when it is used a lot, but is only being actively charged for maybe 6 hr or so total per day. (Despite what a previous post said, I have read and experienced that leaving a laptop plugged in all the time does indeed lead to short battery life)
thanks again,
Pete