I think the empeg interface definately has a high learning curve to it, but once you get used to it (took me about a month), it's very intuitive.. The remote is very easy to use for searches/etc..

Let me tell you my typical behavior though.. I tend to use the buttons to shuffle, play next, then if I hear something I like, I unshuffle.. If I wanna call something up, I use the remote - takes less then 30 seconds to find a typical album/song.

One note though - w/ 2.0beta, the search isn't as intuitive because it seems slower.. (button presses don't register as fast on the search screen) - I'm assuming that this is something that's being worked on (2.0 IS beta)

-mark