There are certainly valid arguments against using a PC as a home theater controller. However, with the proliferation of home computers has come improvements in performance, capabilities and reliability with reduction in cost. It would be possible to design a motherboard with hard drive, IR and serial port for less than half the cost of an MX-3000. With software supporting on-screen programming, such a device would have many advantages over current control systems.

I didn't mean to imply that the current crop of high-end remotes are too complicated. They can have as many features as you want. But with the system I described you can offload much of the complexity to the PC and have far more memory and capability there. It's kind of like replacing the MX-400 with a computer which provides on-screen programming. The PC approach also would allow you to scan DVD cover art for on-screen for movie selection. All the remote would have to support is cursor motion and a Select function.

An additional feature which PC based control would offer is searching and sorting DVDs for title, actor, director, studio, etc. Playlists could be supported for DVDs or CDs. With two way communication to the remote, the remote could even be reconfigured on the fly to handle changes in the system or user preferences.

I realize that my posts are not particularly well suited for this URC forum, however there is nothing to prevent URC from designing and marketing such a system.