A fine simple remote with a fair amount of flexibility

Does this problem sound familiar? My coffee table is littered with little remote controls and now that I have this nice home theater setup, just turning on the TV has turned into this nightmare of button pushing. All I want is a simple way to seamlessly and easily control all my electronics. What's the big issue here?

If you spend any time shopping for a multi-function remote control, you soon realize that there are a blinding array of products that purport to address this need. However, the perfect solution to this problem remains elusive. Because there is no single, ideal solution, the choice here really comes down to personal preference. What compromises can you live with and what drawbacks will drive you insane?

I'm giving this remote high marks because it met my needs. But that is not worth much if it doesn't meet yours. With that in mind, here was my shopping list:

1. Buttons - Call me crazy, but I want nothing but buttons. I tried out one of those remotes with the LCD touchscreen, and personally I think they are a nightmare. My hand "learns" where the functions on a remote are by touch, and I barely look at the remote itself once I'm familiar with the key layout. But on an LCD screen, it's perfectly smooth. You can't feel anything or navigate the commands by touch. If I am watching TV, I'd like to watch the TV and not the remote.

2. Size and comfort - easy to hold and easy to use. Not too heavy, not too light, a thoughtfully-designed tool that falls to hand easily.

3. Learning - or the ability to map particular buttons to unique functions on the original remote. No "code" you punch in ever perfectly replicates all the functions on a complex remote control, so the ability to augment the program by pointing your old remote at the thing and having it learn those inevitable obscure functions that matter to you but were left out of the generic profile is vital.

4. Cheap - It's just a remote. I don't want to freak out if I drop it or break it or when it inevitably wears out. This is ultimately a disposable product.

5. Macros - I don't want to press 8 buttons to just watch TV, that requires the remote to learn sequences of button pushes so you don't have to go through the sequence yourself each time.

With that in mind - I picked up the PMDDVR8

First the device itself - very thin, very light and long. The ergonomics are not bad, it's easy to hold. There are a large number of buttons, and two directional pads. One is the traditional channel & volume, while the other is a menu navigation system.

Some of the secondary buttons are a little bit small, but all are still usable.

Programming was about as easy as these things get. I put in codes for the cable box, DVR (a nice full implementation of the ReplayTV commands - this is a very good choice if you have ReplayTV or Tivo), mapped a few additional keys related to the Picture-in-picture for my TV and put in macros for turning everything on and off. The whole process took me maybe 15 minutes.

It's easy to use for basic channel surfing and control of my Replay TV. I'm pretty satisfied with the purchase. It integrates all the functions I want into one device which is pretty easy to use.

If you have a home theater set-up and actually use lots of the advanced commands for your receiver, this is probably a bad choice. The button layout is really designed around controlling your TV and Replay, not a stereo. It is fine for me, but I don't tweak those settings much.

The buttons don't light up which means you really need to learn the settings.