Cassidycaid gave an excellent response. The 810 tries to set up all your activities (macros) for you with its wizard. You get presented options in the wizard and it tries to set up all your actvities and track the status of your equipment.
It wasn't designed for a second zone so it doesn't know how to do it. It would treat it as another input (activitiy) in the main zone. It wouldn't know to turn on zone 2, select the source for zone 2 and then go to an appropriate screen to control that source. Remember, it tries to make the macros for you. It is not as simple as just putting commands into a macro. It also wouldn't know that the volume for zone 2 is different than the main zone. It doesn't know that zone 2 is separate from main zone, so anything that was done it zone 2 it would track it as if it is in the main zone.
There are work arounds and you can certianly make it work but it is not straight forward like the 980. The 810 was designed to get a SIMPLE system up and running in a short amount of time. Many installers have tried to customize the 810 in ways which it wasn't designed. They quickly found it takes much longer with the 810 and it still doesn't have the flexibility to do certain functions.
The 980 is not difficult to program. It is not wizard based but once you learn its architecture you will appreciate the flexibility. Also, to get a basic remote up and running on the 980 won't be that hard. If you learn how to do variables you can then refine the remote but getting a functional remote with the 980 is not difficult.
It is difficult to explain the differences without being able to show you. If you were using the 810 for basic activities I'd say it is a good choice. I wouldn't recommend it for your application with a second zone. I'd recommend either the 900 or 980. The 980 is a little more time consuming to program mainly because of the graphics. It has other available features over the 900 but they are not necessary to get a functional remote, more for refining the remote.
