As others have said I rarely look at the display checking everything through the OSD. Thus finding a way to keep that with digital sources strikes me as far more important. Still it's very nice to have a visible display on the unit itself. I suspect the reason that displays aren't larger is because they cost a lot more to get even marginally bigger, but maybe not going with the unreadable blue would be a nice choice in the future. Bring in some spouses or other laymen and ask them if they can read it easily from nine feet or so and if not, consider how you can change it.

Same goes for buttons. I like having them so in case I lose the remote or something I still have access, but maybe put them behind a panel or something?

One final suggestion I'd have is to not bother with a really good high-end remote. Far too many companies are trying this putting in flashy learning remotes and all sorts of features. While Outlaw has a great price-point it's still pricey enough that I suspect many of us use third-party universal remotes. The Logitech 676 I picked up barely used for $70 was one of the best purchases I ever made (aside from my 1070 that is...). This means that any money spent on a nice remote is just going to go to waste. I'll strip the codes off it to go into my universal and then it'll end up sitting in a drawer unless I find I need to modify or double-check something on my full-time remote. So yeah, make a decent remote. The one with the 1070 was excellent, but consider looking at it as an area to cut costs. I doubt most of us will ever even use it.