I have bought my parents (who are both 82 years old) a new Sharp LCD and a Sony Blu Ray player for Christmas. They get TV over a Dish Network satellite with an HD receiver (not a DVR). I want to also get them a very easy to use remote that will handle the TV, Dish receiver and Blu Ray player. I would like it to have macros so that one button turns on the TV, changes it to the proper HDMI input, and turns on the Dish receiver to watch regular television and another button does the appropriate things to watch a Blu Ray DVD. When watching Dish, the remote needs to change volume on the TV and change channels on the Dish receiver. When watching Blu Ray, it will need to control the functions on the Blu Ray player. The remote needs a few buttons as possible but be easy to understand. I could program it on my computer if necessary, but it would be nice if that is not required. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Hmm....if you are OK with PC programming the Harmony 700 might not be bad. The buttons are a little small though. I like it because it has most of the directv buttons on hard buttons.

The URC RF20 might be a good choice. It has fairly large easy to read buttons. But some of the direct tv buttons would need to be on the lcd screen.

The URC R50 might be a good choice as well. It has sort of a unique layout though.

It would also help to understand what you price range is. The above remotes range from $50-$150

I am willing to spend up to $150 or more to get the right remote. The main requirement is that they do not have to know what input the TV needs to be on and that it does not require them to constantly switch between component buttons. Those concepts are beyond their understanding.

All of the above remotes should meet those criteria.

I would go with the Harmony 700.
Pros
It is PC programmable which means you can get codes for new devices.
It has most of the needed the buttons needed for directv operation as physical buttons
It is an activity based remote, which means you that they will pick from activities like, watch tv or watch movie. The remote will handle turning the correct devices on and off and setting the inputs on the tv.
It has a rechargeable battery
If for some reason something gets out of sync it has a help menu in the remote to help guide you through how to fix it.

Cons
It has a rechargeable battery so you need to plug it in to charge it.
It does what it does fairly well but it is not very flexible. You are more or less stuck with it's version of the world.

Thanks. I have a Harmony 880 so I am familiar with these units. I'll get them a 700 and program it before I give it to them.

Would the Harmony 670 work as well as the 700 for what I am wanting? It is much cheaper on Amazon.com. Thanks.

The 670 functions the exact same way.

If you think they can work with button layout and read the LCD go for it.