I have read up on the 880 and 890 and the repeater. Still have loads of questions, but first let me describe my set up and see who can give me a great solution.
The thread w/Pix of my HT/Fam room is in the signature.

The components will be housed in cabinets that are in a corner and pointing 90 deg to the seats, there will not be much of a line of sight to them for the IR remotes.

I would like to get a simple setup for me, but more for the Tech adverse wife. I like the idea of macros like the 880 and 890, but don't need a huge array of capabilities.

I want to control a DVD player, the receiver, the cable box, and maybe the lights in the future. Right now I have an Oppo 981, Epson Home Cinema 1080p, and will use some version of a timewarner HD cable box. Might have to add a VCR for da'wife, and to use the vast library of old kidz movies, as well as the wife's stuff.

Now because I need the signal to get to the components, I was literally thinking of a cheap mirror like you stick to your car side view mirrors, above or near the screen and angled to get signal to the components. Kind of redneck I guess, but don't really see a downside compared to the 'beeefs I've read about pulling out the repeater for the 890 everytime you do a software upgrade.

Anyway, there seem to be some solutions from smarthome I saw in one thread, where the signal goes to a general distribution box then to the components via a wire with a pad glued to the IR port. There are most likely lots of solutions, I just am a bit lost for a direction. MAYBE YOU HAVE AN ANSWER...? :p

Anyone using the Universal RF20 and Blaster? (http://www.amazon.com/RFS200-PowerPak-Bundle-MasterControl-PowerBlaster/dp/B000FL9E6U******pd_bbs_sr_2/105-8543307-5694051?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1183569953&sr=8-2)

Personally, I would go with a One For All URC-9910 remote (about $29) as it comes with a built in RF extender. Add a $15 JP1 cable and you have a PC programmable remote.

Thanks, some good reading there, one problem, I'm ALL Macintosh!

where can I get a jp1 cable? sorry I'm new with the remote thing

Well I think I'm going to try the URC RF20 W/Blaster. Seems like a good deal (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart_accessories&A=details&Q=&sku=423521&is=REG) that doesn't have many negatives (wish it had Mac setup, but thats life under $100).

where can I get a jp1 cable? sorry I'm new with the remote thingIf you just want a cable by iteself, you can get them from the following two vendors:

www.diygadget.com (http://www.hifi-remote.com/cgi-bin/banners.cgi?redirect=25)
www.interfaceplace.com (http://www.hifi-remote.com/cgi-bin/banners.cgi?redirect=34)

But if you're looking to buy a remote and a cable at the same time, you can get them from me also (I just don't sell cables by themselves).

stubeef, if you decide you want the URC RF20, you can get it at that price in several places with free shipping, including Circuit City. Target are selling it for $90. CC or Target would take it back with no charge if for any reason you decided you were not happy.

Otherwise, maybe Robman has special prices? MikeSRC, who frequently posts in these threads, certainly does ... and he also sells the URC professional line of products that are not always easily available to the public with the software. As far as I can tell, his prices are generally heavily discounted on the MSRP and the professional line might offer you more options. He might even know something about the Mac issue.

stubeef, if you decide you want the URC RF20, you can get it at that price in several places with free shipping, including Circuit City. Target are selling it for $90. CC or Target would take it back with no charge if for any reason you decided you were not happy.

Otherwise, maybe Robman has special prices? MikeSRC, who frequently posts in these threads, certainly does ... and he also sells the URC professional line of products that are not always easily available to the public with the software. As far as I can tell, his prices are generally heavily discounted on the MSRP and the professional line might offer you more options. He might even know something about the Mac issue.

Great info, thanks. Unfortunately it is ordered and on the way, didn't even think about target! But CC and all would be more after tax, I saved about $24 on ordering over CC, they didn't have the combo pack, target would have been convienant but they didn't have the combo pack either, just the remote.Good info, thanks again!

Just a question. Have you tried to fire the remote with the way things are? I am only asking this because I have the same set up as you, except my gear is in a closet with a door, but when I was setting things up before I wired the IR extendors, I noticed if I left the door open, even though it was at a 90 degree angle to the display, it still turned everything on and off as well as other functions. Granted my gear is pretty close to the seating area, but it no where near a direct shot to the IR sensors.
You might want to give it a try if you haven't.

stubeef, if you decide you want the URC RF20, you can get it at that price in several places with free shipping, ... maybe Robman has special prices? I'm not really a remote vendor, I just dabble in JP1 remotes, so no, I don't sell the URC RF20 or any other non-JP1 remote. Thanks for thinking of me though! :)

Just a question. Have you tried to fire the remote with the way things are? I am only asking this because I have the same set up as you, except my gear is in a closet with a door, but when I was setting things up before I wired the IR extendors, I noticed if I left the door open, even though it was at a 90 degree angle to the display, it still turned everything on and off as well as other functions. Granted my gear is pretty close to the seating area, but it no where near a direct shot to the IR sensors.
You might want to give it a try if you haven't.

No I haven't tried it yet, but I got the blaster included for less than just the remote at some retailers. So I guess I need to try it straight up first! Thanks.