In answering you question about what we like to use, I use Harmony 650 for basic systems. Basic to me is cable box, Apple TV, BD, AVR, TV, all in line of sight open cabinet, user requirements being on off volume. Anything that's not that gets a ProControl Pro24rV2 with a charging dock and a ProLink.r base station. My work is all one room AV systems and multitoom audio using HEOS or Casatunes so this has worked for me as of late.

One thing to be aware of in the differences between Harmony and the various professional remotes is that while Harmony is a universal and allows customization, they still only allow you to make alterations to how THEY want to control the system whereas the pro remotes allow you to force them to make them work exactly as you want them to. For better or for worse.

In the hands of a competent programmer systems work faster and more reliably on a pro remote. No help button required. Harmonies are designed for lay persons which is why the heavy lifting is kept hidden from the "programmer".

For example in your case you talk about issuing HDMI commands even if the TV won't be switching inputs in case the user grabs the original remote and messes with things. Harmony doesn't do this. During the programming you specify the input for the activity but the remote tracks it's state. If you turned it off while the TV was on HDMI 1, it won't issue that command if the next activity turns on to HDMI 1. Hence the need for the help button.

On a pro remote, it was mentioned to issue the HDMI command for the TV in the power off macro. Bullet proof. And not part of the Harmony process. You can add custom commands to any of the Harmony macros but then they are getting sent regardless, introducing processing delays, making times to issue the macro linger and introducing more opertunitied for conflicts. Plus with the pro remotes you can save programming and reuse it in future projects. I have streamlined and perfected pages for all of my commonly used devices. I drag and drop what I need into a project, link pages, done. With Harmony you have to reprogram from scratch every time and Fix issues every time. Tiresome.

Harmony had its place but time wasted doesn't take long to justify the expense of a better remote. How many times have you been back to fix this Harmony.

They are great little remotes but they have their place.

Craig.