I have tried a number of 'universal' remotes without luck. I have in my home theater:

Yamaha DSP-A1 amplifier
Sony VPL-VW10HT LCD projector
Sony SAT-HD100 high definition DirectTV receiver
Sony DVP-NS700P DVD player
Sony SAT-T60 TiVo DirectTV receiver

You would think that with all the Sony equipment it would be easy to buy a Sony universal remote to control it all. The main problem is that my Yamaha AV amplifier cannot be controlled by any of the univeral remotes I have bought. It has an IR remote but none of the universal remotes I've bought either have manufacturer codes that work or can they 'learn' the IR codes for the Yamaha.

I tried to use my Yamaha remote, which has macros and can learn other remotes to control everything, however the Yamaha remote cannot control the Sony projector for some reason.

Other complications: Since I have two DirecTV receivers, the HD and TiVo, I find that the Sony remotes for these will control the other Sony receiver. This is a big problem when the TiVo is used for one room and the HD for the other. I have 'solved' the problem by using RF (rather than IR) communication between my HD receiver and it's remote. RF is far superior anyway due to the fact that you don't have to 'point' the remote at the equipment. To prevent the HD remote from controling the TiVo DirecTV receiver I put electricians tape over the IR LED (low tech but effective).

Therefore, any universal remote solution must only use RF when controlling the HD receiver but IR when controlling the TiVo receiver.

Otherwise I am stuck with the plethora of remotes which my wife cannot use (and I don't really blame her).