I also have a DirecTV HR-20 that lives in a closed cabinet below our TV. I use a Logitech Harmony 890 to control it, an Onkyo 7.1 system, 50" plasma, PS3, and room lighting. The only thing you see in the room is the cabinet and the TV, everything else is hidden.

The room lights use a ZWave dimmer outlet. The remote also controls our kitchen TV which is connected to the HR20 over a really long HDMI cable, so that it shows the same as the living room.

We programmed activities like "Morning TV" which turns on the tv, changes the channel to our morning tv program, and turns the lights on full. "Watch DVD" turns the lights to medium, turns on the surround sound, sets the correct surround mode, turns on the PS3, changes the TV input, and mutes the TV internal speakers.

Before getting the remote, I was the only one in our family that could figure out how to get everything just right to be able to watch a movie, and it took a couple minutes to do it.