Ditto to what ZoneOne says. Being on the left coast, we were in Napa Valley drinking expensive wine all weekend, and when we got home, even in a slightly foggy condition, my wife was still able to push one button on our VIA panel and make the system come to life. I use my wife as a beta test for my customers. If she can do it, usually they can too!!! In my house, it's a stand-alone controller for my theater as well as the controller for my VIAMusic CD Library Controller. We have found it to be a generally flexible, easy to use and easier than Crestron to program. Crestron offers more ultimate flexibility, but at a significant cost increase.

I hope my opinion is helpjul to you.