Lots of topics here:

Future features - sure there may be advances made, but unless you change the equipment you control, what's the difference? None of my current equipment is bi-directional so I don't care about that, and none of it is RF.

I've found the responsiveness of my newly arrived Pronto (thanks Jack) to be just fine. I leave the confirmation beep set on low,

Directionality: It works perfectly when held upright in front of me pointing at the ceiling! I have several macros that control 3 pieces of kit, and even when pointing at the ceiling like this they always work just fine.

Wy wife hates change of any sort, particularly where it interferes with TV watching :) I left her alone with the Pronto for one evening and haven't seen the collection of old remotes since. The macros work superbly and she finds her way around just fine. The limitations are those of the devices - no seperate on/off signal, no discrete Video 1, Video 2, Video 3 signal (have to select a TV channel then step through to where I need to be).

I am looking forward to the (free to existing owners) software early in 1999, but frankly it's pretty damn near perfect already.