The 950's remote is actually a very good remote,
especially when bundled with a pre/pro for only $800. A number of us have upgraded to other remotes from the same manufacturer (Universal Remotes) - didjdude is using their new URC-300 remotes, while JMS and I (and many others, in fact) use the Home Theater Master MX-500.
The 950/7100 combo is a very nice package. The only issue I see tripping folks up from time to time is a quirk in the six channel analog input that causes it to only output the left and right channels if you switch to the six channel analog input from an input that is operating in stereo mode. If you toggle to the six channel analog input from a source running any sort of surround mode (Dolby 5.1, DTS, Pro Logic, 5/7 Stereo, whatever), you will get all six channels. Otherwise, I would suggest looking at a few of the following threads (if you haven't already):
What would you tell a prospective 950 buyer? and
Let me start by apologizing . There are other threads floating around that are worth reading, but those are the first two that caught my eye. And of course if you have questions about any of the 950's features, there are usually folks around here who can answer 'em.