The 312 has silver/gray in the curvy center region around the HAL eye. 212s are all black, and I think the 112s are the opposite of the 312 (but I don't have one).

I've found Sony's TV-related remotes to just suck in general.

Series2 Philips remotes are the same shape.. slightly longer, with 4 additional buttons between power/live and thumbs down/up, and a slider switch to control 2 different TiVos with one remote.