Hello all, my first post here. I've been spending a lot of time over on the AV Science forum (which is where I heard about this forum) during my home theater project. Just don't think it would be complete without a nice remote.

I have the following components:
Samsung 50" Plasma 1080p 50A550A
Direct TV receiver HD
Denon AVR 790 receiver
Panasonic BD35 bluray player

It is just my wife and I. We sometimes watch TV without turning on surround receiver. Not really looking for anything elaborate but, I have always had a weakness for new gadgets so I don't mind if something I buy is "overkill". I would really like it to be as simple as possible for my wife while still satifying my lust for new toy.

I would like to keep price around $100 and am considering these: Harmony 700, Harmony 880, URC-R50.

Would the Harmony 700 be easier to program? But, what about durability?
I spend quite a bit of time on Ebay and Amazon.

Thanks,
Steve

Do you want macros? Or are you comfortable manually turning things on and switching inputs? How do you get audio if the surround receiver is off? Are you splitting audio from the sources to the TV and the AVreceiver? How are you routing Video?

If you route audio and video from both sources into the AVR and video out to the TV it will make your macros have less commands and it will make manually turning things on faster/easier.

When you don't want all the speakers on select 2 channel stereo. Im assuming you have a 5.1 or 7.1 system.

Yes, I have a 7.1 system. I forgot to mention that my sub is a BIC F12. I'm not perfectly clear about what macros are except that I think it has something to do with programing a certain sequence of cammands? I've never had any experience with any universal type remote so all I know is manually turning on & off as well as switching inputs. Actually it will be about a month before I have the Denon 790 receiver I mentioned. It has full HDMI. The Onkyo I have been using doesn't. Right now, I am using HDMI connection from both Direct TV receiver and BD player directly to TV. And, optical connection for same components directly to Onkyo receiver for audio. That way, I can watch TV with or without surround.

When I get the Denon, I had planned on using HDMI from components to Denon, then just one HDMI cable from Denon to TV. Or, I could still use the one optical connection from Direct TV receiver to Denon for audio. I'm not sure yet. I just want to do what will be simplest.

I have heard really good things about the Harmony 700 and the URC-R50. I just don't know which one would be best for me.

Thanks,
Steve

If you want durability (and longevity) I would recommend the URC.

What about ease of operation for typical wife? About the same for both the R50 and Harmony 700?

Another big thing: is it generally considered any more easy and convenient to do programing on PC, then transfering to remote as with 700, or doing it all on the remote as with the R50? I have found prices on both of these units for under $100 new including shipping. I would like to act quickly and be done with it.

Couldn't wait any longer so I just ordered a new R50 for $84.99 shipped. This remote will have to endure lots of channel surfing just like our current Direct TV remote so I felt like I needed the most durable one out there.

I meant to say thanks. This helped me off the fence.

I guess I've seen too many refurb Harmony's and you gotta guess there's a reason...