Another solution is
Step 1. Find the local techno-geek in your office/workplace/circle of friends/family. They don't tend to hide like they used to so they should be easy to spot.
Step 2. Purchase a receiver that serves your needs and a really good universal remote like a Harmony or a URC. Not a generic universal remote like you might find at Wallmart but spend a little extra for one of the a fore mentioned. Trust me, it's worth it.
Step 3. Apply Tom Sawyer logic to trick them into thinking that setting up your receiver and programming your remote would be fun. Bribe with beer/wine/chocolate/comic books or whatever seems most likely to work, if necessary. It's more than likely they will do it for free because they would think it's fun (until they are halfway through the job, then it's too late.)
The result. You will have a great system that will be so simple that a press of one single button will turn on and auto configure every device and make them ready to go for any task.
You would be surprised how easy it is to accomplish step number 3. In fact, I've fallen for this a few times myself. Indeed a lab mouse learns quicker than I do about such a traps.
