My system is as follows:

TV- Vizio L42HDTV10A
Receiver- Denon AVR-590
DVR- Moxi 2 Tuner HD DVR
XBOX
Macbook running PLEX

Remotes:
Harmony 659
URC-R50

My wife hates the Harmony. We used to have the 880 which was ok not great. The 659 misses codes and my wife hates having to use the help function every time. Would RF work better? Where would I put the IR blaster. My components are spread out in a 3-4 foot space with nowhere in front to put a IR blaster.

I bought the URC-R50 after the 880 broke but nobody likes it as some components would get out of sync and there was no way to get everything turned on besides getting up and doing it manually.

I don't believe all my components have discrete codes but am stuck with all these components for now.

So what remote would you all recommend. I will program but not if it is wicked hard!

Budget is less than $200.

Thanks!
Ian

Well I'm not sure what you can get for the $200, but to answer some of your questions.

Yes, an RF base station or control processor would be best. It's not like the LeapFrog IR extender. With URC, the base station receives the RF signal and sends the IR out over IR emitters that plug directly into it. The emitters then stick on the front of each piece of equipment where it's IR receiver is.

Take your time to put delay's and make the R50 the best it can be, b/c it can be pretty damn good. If it is at all like the MX450, you should be able to put the power on/off button on the first page of your devices that keep getting out of sync, so worst case you just hit the button.

The cheapest solution I've ever been happy with is the URC MX450+MRF260, but that's still $400, however to make it shine takes someone that has some experience. Most of the time, you' be better off spending more for a MX900 and base station b/c it can be programmed via computer software and so gets done much quicker.

Sorry, i don't have a great answer. I personally hate the harmony remotes.

Have to agree with sofa_king here. I normally don't reccoomend Harmony to anyone, but it sounds like your budget is calling for one. The MX-450 will allow you to customize so that you can fix any situation, but with the base your over your budget and then some.

So, that being said a Harmony sounds like it's in your future..

Guys, I bought the URC RFS200 bundle. Did I make a big mistake?

No. That's a good remote and the RF will help with your reliability.

If you take your time and think through your programming, it will do great. I've used the MX350 (professional version) which is very similar with great success.

My advice is to write down the steps of what your macros need to be. This way when you go through and actually do the programming, you don't miss anything.

excellent. thanks so much for your guidance.