I agree with your assessment of the remote control. Have you also noticed that the infra-red requires a very precise point and shoot for the DVR recevier to recognize the remote signal!! It also seems that the Motorola DVR is not compatible with the univseral remote receivers (ie where you place an infra-red recever under your plasma TV with a receiving unit and it sends back the remote signal to all your related components. The DVR does not "recognize" the signal sent back.