What exactly is the problem with using normal non-idle timers in both
these cases?
I prefer timers such as these not to run while I'm typing, even slowly, or otherwise navigating. That's all. As I said, if saveplace already had a regular timer in place, I'd just have used that even if I prefer idle. I could ask you the same question. Why you prefer to be interrupted for these kinds of things vs. idleness, even with a short after-idle interval.