Yes in my house a remote is that important. You will not believe when we switched to dish it took my other half, six months of screaming how do you do this. So every remote in our house is a 20.0 or a 21 so that they are all the same so there is no complaints in this house they all look and act the same. I had to order extra remotes but was well worth it.
Then get a harmony. It is better than paying twice the subscription.
Plus, DirecTV remotes are one of the most user friendly remotes I have ever used.
List gets you to your list of programs saved on your DVR
Guide gets you to your guide
Power turns on and off your TV and your box
volume turns the volume up and down on your audio device
The menu gets you to the menu. The menu on the new HDGUI is one of the most user friendly and simple guides I have ever seen
All of the other things do the same things all of the remotes do
The only thing you would need to memorize are the color button shortcuts and you don't even need to use those