Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I need help! I want a small pocket camcorder but I'm not sure which one to get. I don't want to fall into the hype of the Flip because I worry two hours won't be enough. What should I be looking for when considering a small camcorder and where can I get a good quality one with expandable memory? Thanks!"
"I personally say stay away from the new DirecTV receivers if you're using a media center. My brother and I had a heck of a time trying to get it to work with the IR blaster and media center remote, only to have a DTV rep tell us that there was no way for the receiver to accept IR signals only, that it also had to receive the RF signals"
Hogwash!
I use a Radio Shack 15-1994 IR remote to control everything in my system. Including the HR20. ONLY infrared. What they told you was complete BS.
If you are having problems with an IR blaster, I know that the Hughes SD TiVo units had overload issues if you put the blaster too CLOSE. Back it off a bit.