You can get it the easy way with a Sony Clie. Most of these come with a nifty little piece of software called Remote Media Controller, hence have an extended IR Port. RMC works with many appliances but if you look for something more sophisticated, go for OmniRemote.

I've been using both PalmOS and Pocket PC based PDAs, And I must admit Palm's are still more reliable and easier to use, whatever you plan to do with it (office documents, e-mail or merely PIM).