We decided that using even the minimum of 3 remotes was just too cumbersome. Not that anyone here is incapable of figuring it out, it's just a pain. So I did some more lurking and found the Phillips Pronto to be the most liked and expandable remote. While it ain't cheap, I found the
TSU-2000 on sale at
DMartStores for under $200. This is a great remote and I'm just getting started customizing it to our situation. There is a plethora of great info on the Pronto and just about every other remote under the screen at
Remote Central. And more ccf files are available at
Pronto Edit.