Hi folks. Over the last year, my home theater setup has grown significantly better, but also much more complicated. My roommates are both looking for the simplicity of when we just had the TV, PS-2 and cable box. I'm looking to not be beaten to death by them with the half-dozen remotes and game controllers now needed to use the system.

My current gear is as follows (receiver and Xbox are both pre-HDMI, I'm using Component and TOSLINK for my HD):
TV: Westinghouse SK-32H640G
Receiver: Sony STR-DE995
Game 1 + DVD: Microsoft Xbox 360
Game 2: Sony PS-2 (rarely used)
VCR: Couldn't tell you the brand without looking (barely used)
DVR: Comcast-supplied HD

We'll be dropping pay TV and the DVR very soon in favor of an HTPC running Boxee (repurposing a 7 year old gaming PC).

The major hangup here comes with having to switch inputs on both the TV AND the receiver whenever switching between Component/Composite/VGA. It's a pain for me, and nearly impossible for my roommates to remember, they'll never figure out that they have to change the audio input on the receiver AND the video input on the TV to use the HTPC. Plus the Westinghouse takes ages to switch inputs, you'll lose hours in a lifetime waiting for that thing.

I don't NEED something that's easy to set up, I really need something that has the power and flexibility to execute a bunch of macros seemlessly, and that has good visual cues for the user, and that will navigate well in the Xbox 360 and HTPC interfaces. I'm trying to stay on a budget, so, there's that.

If you've read this far and are still willing to offer advice, I thank you.

Do you know whether that Westinghouse has discrete input codes?

I've never heard that term, so I hope I'm understanding you right: the remote has a button for each type of input; components of the same type are "stacked"... pressing HDMI once gives you HDMI port 1, pressing again switches to port 2. I only use one input of each kind on the television (1x Component, 1x VGA, 1x Composite).

Thanks for the reply!

Would the Logitech Harmony 700 be a safe choice?