I am a CI Company in Dallas/Ft Worth, and we have installed my different remote/control systems for clients over the years. We have used the iPad in conjunction with a traditional remote for clients. We have also used iPad's as standalone home controllers, but not single room solutions. Most of our clients want hard buttons (at least vol/mute and channels), and a dedicated remote for the room.
I have personally used in my home a Harmony 1100, MX-3000, MX-900, MX-5000, MX-6000, T2Cs+, T3V, and RTI iPad.
That list was the order that we went through them, We have used the iPad App for 4/mo now and absolutely love the extra real estate. This remote is what controls my theater room, and was only chosen as the only remote because we were going to put a RTI T4 in that room. So this made since to go with the iPad, due to the lower cost of equipment and I would end up with an iPad if we decided to change remotes instead of a T4 that I would need to sell. When we made this decision, we decided to buy another iPad so this could stay in the theater as a dedicated remote. We could never use this as my family room remote to channel surf, for that we use a RTI T2C+ for the hard buttons.
So long story short, I would recommend an iPad remote system in a Theater environment (movies) and a traditional remote for everyday TV watching. If the appeal of the iPad Remote is still present, I would definitely pair it with a basic universal remote to get you by when you crave for hard buttons and a braille system for channel surfing.
