Sounds like two of you are suggesting staying away from the MX-5000 but only one is warning about the MX-1200. It's difficult to know what my experience will be but I'm convinced that staying away from the MX-5000 is best. Since I've had the MX-3000, and it's touchscreen, I think the MX-1200 is the logical choice unless there's more suggestions that it's not reliable.

As for the emitters, no, it's not a big deal to use them. I'd rather not, if possible, which is why I like equipment with direct IR inputs. Unfortunately, it seems like these inputs aren't all that common.

I don't really need two-way, via serial or IP. Much of my desire for something more than IR is just curiosity. Having programed IR for more than a decade now, I'm looking for an opportunity to experiment a little. Programming an MX-1200, or MX-890, isn't going to provide much of a challenge, however, it will entail using the Complete Control program versus the standalone MX-3000 editor. That's something new to provide a bit of a challenge.

If I'm looking for a challenge, and to do a bit of experimenting, what do you think of getting an MRX-2, and a Complete Control App for Android license in addition to an MX-1200? I can't imagine using a tablet as a primary control device, but it would be interesting to see what it could do. Wouldn't this provide control via both serial and IP as well as IR? Right now I utilize an MRF-300 w/RFX-250 narrow-band antenna (instead of the original RFX-150)