Best universal remote control?

I can recommend  Logitech Harmony 700 Rechargeable Remote
It has a color screen to make it easier to control your devices. You can add up to 15 different devices including TV, sound systems, game consoles, and others to control. I have not tried to use it with other types of devices yet as I do not have a need. You can read more about it here: https://themybuy.com/best-universal-remote-control/ I have bought it after reading this review. 

I Highly Recommend Universal Remote brand.
I have the MX-350.
It can be setup to do ir or rf or both.
It is fairly easy to program and i think the button layout is perfect
http://www.universalremote.com/residential_user_interfaces.php

A second vote for the Universal remotes. I got an MX-450 and absolutely love it. Setup can be a pain, but it's worth it. They perform exactly like they should. In my current setup anyone can grab the remote and learn to control everything within 1 minute.

I've been using a Universal Home Theater Master for about 15 years and it's great and has been bulletproof. One of the great things about it is the IR signal seems particularly strong so the remote is not senstive to direction and works almost no matter where you point it. I also like the hard buttons that are nicely laid out, so I rarely need to look at the remote to use the most common buttons -- drive by feel as it were. The downside is it's not the easiest remote to program, but once you've got the hang of it it's not bad and once you're done you're done.

I recommended Universal to a buddy of mine who likes stuff to "just work," and he bought one of their newer models and absolutely loves it. Not the smallest or prettiest remotes out there, but they work and work well. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Harmony One has been the best for me, not available new, I believe, but many around.

To answer the Sony RM VL-600 is 24.95 at Best Buy. I just bought one last week and set it up yesterday for my Garage system and it seems to work really well. But for my main system I have been using Marantz's RC1400, but I am not sure they are available anymore. I have about 4 or 5 as they do wear out. Also I keep one in the kitchen so I am always able to control from there as well. I do have a few commands on my Velodyne SW that it just won't learn though. But in the future, I have a concern when I buy a new TV what I will do as the new TV's all seem to be going to to touch pads on their remotes. It would be nice to hear from anyone that has cleared that hurdle. I have done a little online research into the Universal Remotes but not sure if they offer a touch pad yet.

The best and the easiest are far from the same thing. It really depends on how much stuff you're trying to control and what you want the remote to do. I had a Logitec and I scrapped it - to many sub menus and not intuitive, although it did do a lot of things. For my money, the Sony RM VL-600 is great. Simple, cheap and you can assign any function to any button. They may not make it anymore, but I'm sure it has a successor. Good luck.