The only remote I've seen that loses memory is an OEM sat STB remote from RCA with some universal codes in it at my parents' house. It constantly loses the codes for their Panny TV/VCR combo, which is a pain since I'm the only one who can figure out how to make it work with the stupid combo unit.

I've never seen a real universal remote that lost its memory. As an example: The HTM SL-9000 manual claims the memory will be retained for 1 year with no batteries, up to 10 years with dead batteries still in it. Shouldn't be a problem. ;-)

So I guess that's another reason to use a universal, they aren't cheap crap like the OEM remotes!! (I haven't even bothered to mention the insanely cheap remote that came with my Chinese DVDp, universal over that one any day)