Wow, thats a lot of money just for an IR remote!
I can do anything those remotes can do using my Logitech MX mouse. Your using an HTPC, so you already have a mouse in your hand, it's a bit silly to have to fumble for a remote when you want to watch something on TV or Cable.
My mouse button functions change based on my current activity, so if I am watching a DVD the buttons will FF, Rew, pause or play the DVD. If I am watching my comcast HD cable box, the mouse buttons asume the correct functions for it such as skip 30 sec, play, pause, chan, menu navigation, etc.
All this is accomplished with a $50 IR transceiver attached to my HTPC's USB port and some very smart software.