Harman/Kardon TC 30

Pros: Gets rid of the clutter of multiple remotes

Cons: A real pain in the neck to program

Summary: Went to this from a Harmony 880 which refused to charge it's battery and Logitech, its manufacturer, was too busy to be bothered to replace or fix.

It is laid out in a better fashion than is the Harmony 880, but HK could still learn from TIVO's remotes. Its number keys are small, but workable. Because of it's hefty size, I find it necessary to put both hands on it to operate it, unlike TIVO remotes which can be easily operated with one hand.

Those who wrote the programming instructions must not have English as their first language. Their instructions I found both confusing and subject to multiple interpretations. By trial and error taking an entire morning, I finally got it programmed. It shouldn't be as difficult or as time consuming, and I found the experience quite maddening. When it was finally programmed, it works quite well controlling all of the functions of the various machines it operates from its internal memory. One is required to input very few commands; it knows the machines' functions itself with minimal input from its owner.

One must be prepared to suffer during the programming phase, however; and afterwards to adjust to HK's weight and size. On balance, however, it is the best universal remote I've yet come across and well worth the programming struggle.