Thanks for the great reviews, I wish I had read them before I purchased.
I purchased the RC9800i a month ago, I have had the same problems you have plus even though I successfully program the user function keys 1, 2 and 3 for an Scientific Atlanta DVR the buttons don't appear on any of the RC9800i pages. After an hour on the phone with reps and supervisors at Philips, I'm told it a compatibility issue ????
Fortunately, I called J&R who will take it back. I can't believe this remote doesn't do half what my Pronto RC 5000 does.
I spent hours programming the control and trying to find a, "work around" . What a waste...