IR Blaster choice

[brw02005]

Ok I want to pick an IR blaster for changing the volume on my TV. I'm a pretty descent programmer and I care more about expandabilty than ease of use. I was thinking of using either UIRT or Actisys IR-200L. I understand I'll need girder or hip to rig this up but which one is the most expandible for most types of IR signals and do both have equilent distance assuming prefect line of sight and not so perfect. Just trying to get the best for my money and I'm hoping for the IR-200L since its the cheapest and I'm a poor college student who needs one last piece to finish his PVR.