If you're going to have to reprogram your remotes so often that they start to feel like an extension of that buggy, high-maintenance computer in the den, why not get a remote that is an extension of a computer?
The Philips Pronto and Harman Kardon/Microsoft Take Control take that very approach. Instead of adding control codes for new gear through sequential button-pushing on the remote, you can use a more-or-less-friendly computer interface, then transfer the new smarts to the remote with a serial cable. (These come with control codes stored onboard, so you don't need a computer to start using them.) Once you're done downloading or editing new control codes, you can then rearrange the on-screen buttons on these remotes' backlighted, touch-sensitive PDA-style displays.
With this interface flexibility, these screens can mimic any kind of remote control, even ones for products that were just invented. Better yet, you can create macros for automating whole sequences (turn on all components, record from a certain channel, then shut down.) These features have earned them devoted--sometimes too devoted--fan bases at sites such as Remote Central (http://www.remotecentral.com) and Pronto Edit (http://www.prontoedit.com).
The reliance on programmable touch-screen buttons means you have to look at that screen instead of navigating buttons by feel, but both remotes include a few old-fashioned tactile buttons as well. The Take Control features a semi-useful roller and up/down buttons, while the Pronto opts for more conventional, and convenient, volume and channel buttons. Both remotes are large, but the Take Control is especially bulky. Both also require you to recharge or replace batteries fairly often.
The Pronto and Take Control really do succeed at integrating all remotes into one, easily beating all other remotes for power and performance. And, alas, price: You can buy a new DVD player and VCR for the cost of one of these.
Philips Pronto, Win 95-98-NT-2000; $399 (recharge unit, $80), http://www.pronto.philips.com
Harman Kardon Take Control, Win 95-98-NT; $350, http://www.harmankardon.com