I bought the RM-AV2000 tonight and must agree with you. This is by far the most versatile remote I've used yet. I've tried the Marantz RC-2000 as an add-on to a Pioneer receiver, didn't work well together, returned it. Tried the RC-2000 MK-II that came with my Marantz receiver, it was better, still not the best.

I just bought the new Kenwood VR-2090 receiver which is wonderful. That came with their new ultra-way-nifty Powerpad LCD remote. While it looks really groovy, it's basically useless after the receiver is configured. The LCD is there with a similar layout as the Sony, but you toggle or jump around the screen with a thumb joystick rather than touch. As someone put it, "try to pause the movie to answer the phone and you'll miss your call". They're right.

In dire attempt to find "my remote" I picked up the Sony. I don't think I'll ever need to buy another remote. Honestly.

One issue with your review. You wrote "if you quickly press the function button it only switches the remote to the new component but doesn't send out the assigned signal. To switch the amp you have to firmly press the button."

I haven't found this to be true. Either I'm mashing the button too hard, or I don't have the Sony set up right. Any hints?

Thanks Daniel. I wouldn't have a clue that this remote existed if it weren't for your page!

Let me try to clarify the "firm/soft" issue. This was something I discovered completely by accident, it's possible users will have to find it out for themselves as well.

The twelve component selection buttons (which change the remote to the new component) can also have an additional command "learned" to them, say the device's power button (probably a bad idea) or the command that switches the receiver to the new input. So when you push VCR1 both the remote and the the amp switch to VCR1.

I discovered, completely by accident, that this button seems to have an interesting feature (or possibly what may be considered a defect). If you push the button "normally", the remote changes modes and then sends out the "learned" command to switch the amp to the proper input. I found that if you push the button "softly and quickly" the remote will switch the the new mode HOWEVER THE LEARNED COMMAND WILL NOT BE TRANSMITTED. This is very handy when you're trying to joggle between two VCRs and don't want the amp to be switching around, yet still want the convenience of auto-switching during normal use.

The problem is, describing and using "softly and quickly" is very hard, like describing color to a blind person. The best I can suggest is that you try new ways of pushing the system control buttons. You may think that the button push didn't register, since the command isn't sent out, however the remote itself does indeed switch to the new component. This same button technique doesn't appear to work with other tactile buttons, such as volume.

Well, I just got mine, after much research and reading through the whole message forum, but might I suggest something more.
Instead of fighting your fingers to "learn" how to push the buttons softer, couldn't you just block the signal to the components by putting your
hand in front of the IR transmitter while you push the button, thus the remote changes modes, and the learned signal is never sent to the somponent,
thus achieaving the same result.
thanks again for a great page...

Well, sure, but I may forget to block the window... I'm not sure exactly how difficult it is for other folks, but I have no problem getting it to not send out the signal. It's about as easy as figuring out the timing for double-click on a mouse...