That is one of the complaints with the 880. Some say it is not intuitive, and there
is a learning curve to programming it.
I went through the same thing with my Pronto a few years ago. But I worked through it, and I now love it. I'm not a diehard like some of them over at RemoteCentral, but I have nothing but praise for that site. Lots of info, help, news and downloads. I also bought my Pronto out of necessity, as the unit did not arrive with a remote, and the Denon Aktis supplied with the 5803 was a notorious dog of a remote.
I'll have to admit, once you've mastered the programming, it can get fun to perfect it even more, and just play around with it a bit. I've always seen the remote as a tool to get the equipment to operate with ease. Some of them at remote take it to the extreme, and see the remote as a piece of equipment to operate (and why not, with some of them running $1,500.00?). If you haven't visited the site Macca, give it a try. If you have, you may want to consider dusting off that old 880, and, on a rainy day, get over that learning curve. BTW, I've got some family in Sydney and the Calliope region (Diglum...BIG town
. Cheers mate.