The Logitech Harmony 880 represents the future of remotes: It's universal, it has a color LCD, it's easily programmable on a PC (no need for an A/V installer), and it's reasonably priced. It's our Editors' Choice. The NevoSL is better and has a bigger screen, but it costs over three times as much.

Installation is simple: Go to www.harmonyremote.com and enter information about your TV, stereo, DVD player, and so on. Then download the information to your PC, which passes it on via USB to the remote. In case something goes wrong, a Help button lets you fix most simple goofs. The wasp-waisted 880 measures 8.1 by 2.3 by 1.3 inches (HWD), weighs 0.4 pounds and includes a 128- by-160-pixel color display bordered by eight contextual buttons whose icons appear on the screen edges. The unit itself snaps into a docking/recharging cradle. As long as it spends a night there every week or so, you don't have to worry about running out of power, ever.

The 880 is built around activities (watch TV or play a DVD, for example) instead of the macros that power users prefer, but the effect is the same: This is one remote that does virtually anything you want. The street price of $250 may seem high if you're used to $49 universal remotes, but keep in mind that the 880's competition really comes from custom-programmable remotes that cost $500 and up. This one's a winner.