I abandoned the MX-980 mostly because I was sick of the base station, software, and the trouble with finding a version that would work on newer Operating Systems. I had trouble getting it installed and working on Vista and didn't want to go through the same ordeal with Win 7. When my system stopped working a few weeks ago I had no way to check and see if the programming I had set up was erased or still set up correctly, etc because the only laptop that I had the software on had crapped out since the last time I replaced it. I figured it was probably the base station but couldn't really verify and I decided I was sick of running wires and IR flashers to everything.
The funny thing is I decided on a Harmony because they were easier to program, easier to get the software, easier to teach IR to, etc so I bought the 1100 and absolutely hated it. Thus....I came full circle back to URC and was already kind of enamored with the color LCDs and wanting to upgrade the 850.
In retrospect I probably could have made the 850 work if I could have gotten the software but I'm pretty happy with the 980 so far. I find the usability to be very similar to how I had the 850 set up and it's very intuitive. No problems on that end at all. The CCP interface is loads better than the standalone editor for the 850 (or 980 for that matter), I do like the customizable display and graphics, and for the time being anyway I'm happy that I got rid of the base station and all of the IR flashers. BTW the 980 isn't in fact touch screen - or if it is I haven't figured out how to use it! The LCD screen at the top just displays the icons and each one corresponds to a hard button on either side of the remote. Similar to the 850 - just that the 850 was text only.
I would love to see some pics of your setup - are they out there on this site anywhere?
Mine is pretty junior as I only have a small wall to work with in my basement but I'm pretty happy with it!
