Steve -

I upgraded from the 659 to an 880 some time ago, and have never looked back. The 880 will give you the dedicated keys you wished for above, plus you can always map them to the LCD display (or the Up/Down arrows right below the 4-way pad) if desired.

I agree that the bottom-mtd transport keys makes it awkward on the 659, but then the 880 has the 0-9 keys low. But I get around that by programming my most-watched channels to the LCD scree, complete with the channel icons!

Maybe your local Costco carries the 880 so you can "test drive" it with a full return policy if it doesn't fit your needs...

Good luck!

BTW, nmo - awesome posting, best Harmony thread I've come across! Thanks for all the time and research to make this thread...