I use the 650 for simple systems and it works pretty well. The help button makes it easy for most people to deal with TVs without discrete commands.

I called to get some info a while back and ended up talking to the person in charge of their design/engineering department. We discussed several of the problems I had in the past and he said their goal is to never have those kinds of problems again. He even answered the phone when he was vacationing in Europe.

I got an Elite and he added a Companion, which normally comes with its own hub, but that remote can be paired to the one that comes with the Elite. In my more simple system, I have to say that the Companion does everything I need, although I need to add the Info, Guide & Exit buttons for the TV when I listen to the radio. It doesn't have a help button, but if my TV doesn't go to the correct input, I can just press Ch+ or CH- and it's good (when I want to watch TV/listen to the radio) and if I want to do anything else, it's a little more complicated, but still not terrible. I wouldn't let it fly in a customer's system, but with my own, it's not a problem.

The Companion has only three activity buttons, but will operate six, via long or short button press. It doesn't have the ability to learn commands, but this is still possible if the system also has an Elite or Ultimate Remote.

The Elite is good. I would recommend watching the videos and trying one. It feels heavier and more solid than any of their others.

The iPhone app works very well, too.