I am outfitting a very small media room in my new home and the equipment room is in the back behind a door. I need a reliable RF remote. I have read about Harmony and do not want to go that direction. I have experience with URC mx800 and have programed it myself. I wanted to move up to color but with URC restrictions it seems my options are limited. I do not want to pay for programming when I can do a better job than most "pros" considering I know what I want and will be adding capabilities and do not want to pay just to update.
What suggestions? I have considered the MX880. Is the software accessible?

I don't think you will get much help from any pros when you say you can do a better job then most pros. While I don't doubt you are fully capable of programming the remote, those of us that have been programming for years and have hundreds, if not thousands of remote builds under our belt have become fairly proficient at programming. If my clients request a certain feature, or a bunch of features, I simply accommodate them, as I am sure any decent CI would. If you want to purchase a CI only remote, then I suggest contacting a local CI and explain what you are looking to do, and they may offer you the remote for sale along with the software to program. You will not be able to get it here though.

I think you should go with MX880, its much more responsive and having nice look with vibrant colors. You can call it a professional remote. Correct me if I am wrong.