I'm suprised to see that Carver is not on the list of Receivers... will it work for this unit?

The signals for that particular receiver would have to be learned... but it'll still work as if they were built in, ie. you'd only have to learn the volume & mute commands once, and it would duplicate them across all components.

OK... the problem I have now with my Sony remote (it came with my projection screen TV...) it is supposed to be a "universal" remote. I programmed in the codes for my VCR and Cable box. The remote has a button labeled "MENU". But, no matter what device I'm controlling, when I press the MENU button... I always get the TV menu... that is very frustrating because when I'm in the VCR mode, and I hit the menu button, I expect to get the VCR menu... not the TV menu. Does this remote work the same?

The RM-AV2000 is 100% customizable. The problem with your current remote is no matter what mode you switch it to, certain buttons are always stuck to their default settings. With the AV2000 every button under every device is customizable, so the VCR1's Menu button is seperate from VCR2's, TV's, etc.

Of course you'd probably run out of memory were you to try and learn EVERY button - so set the proper brand to your device (where possible) and just fill in holes by learning.