In regards to question 3: from what I've heard, it's not few - it's none. I'm not sure if anyone's tried using another Sony remote to see if it would respond, but from what I understand the "VisionTouch" receivers either use a continuous stream of IR signals or RF - I feel the latter is most likely the case. RF is hard enough to learn already, but toss in Sony's "unique" controller and you've got major problems. :-)