At the rate we are going, there will be a day where you have a remote for your remotes. How silly can this get? At my old apartment there was a remote for the air conditioner. I do not know about that if you are too lazy to get up and turn the AC on/off you probably have a few problems. Heck, you could not even use the thing at night because you could not see it. But it was there for our convenience.

With all these remotes you end up with anywhere from a minimum of two (TV and cable) to as many as (TV, Cable, VCR, DVD, Tivo, Stereo) five without any problem. How do you keep them straight and how do you manage to not lose them? For that matter, how do you know which goes with what?

Well, that is the premise behind the Kameleon One for All remote. The One for All combines all of your remotes into one and can include up to eight different remotes in it's memory. What an idea! No, it is not free and you have to purchase it separately and then figure out how to program it, but it will reduce clutter and make your remote operations a lot easier.

THE SPECIFICS:

* Replaces uo to eight remotes
* Backlight with five brightness levels
* Touch screen
* Interactive set up
* Four AAA batteries
* Compatible with: Audio amplifiers, audio receivers, CD,
cable, cassette players, DVD, digital tape, home
automation, home theater amp, misc. audio, PVR, PVR
DVR, phono, satellite, satellite PVR combo, TV, TV DVD
combo, TV VCR combo, VCR, video accessories.
* Preprogrammed for: Motorola Cable Box, Toshiba DVD
Player, Philips TiVo PVR (DVR), Pioneer CD Player and
Audio Receiver, and RCA TV, VCR, and Satellite Receiver
(other devices can be added using the remote's
extensive code library).

As you can see the Kameleon works with many different devices, although I have not been able to get it to work with my AC yet. The preprogrammed devices are nice, but if you have a device that is not listed it is not the end of the world. The interactive learning system allows you to add most of the devices and manufacturers that you are likely to own without a lot of difficulty.

How does it work? Well, the device that is being used is the one that shows on the screen while the devices that are not being used are in the background. The device being used is then controlled by the remote while the others remain hidden. To change the device being used, you simply use the touch screen controls. Otherwise, the Kameleon acts just like any other remote you have owned.

One of my biggest questions was what happens down the road when I want to replace a TV or DVD player with something new? No sweat. Simply plug in the new code and you are set. You can also upgrade via your computer or call the help desk.

Another question was whether or not the Kameleon had all of my favorite controls, such as previous channel. The answer is yes and you can also program a favorites list. Heck, you can set up four macro keys that will provide shortcuts to any of the four components that you chose.

My final question was how simple would it be to set up? The answer was surprisingly easy. The remote comes with a set up guide and also the ability to perform any functions with the remote and on the screen. As with many things, once you do it once, you find it is pretty simple to do it a second time. Hence, once you have set up one program, the remaining devices come easily.

So, what have I found to be a problem with the Kameloen One for All? Quite simply, the batteries. The Kameleon eats batteries like I drink beer. I have tried to lower the backlight to the lowest level and it has helped to some degree. Other than taking this step, I do not what you can do to improve the life of the batteries. I will go through the batteries every month and I am, by no means, a heavy user.

I have been using the Kameleon One for All remote for close to three months now and must say that it has made it a lot more convenient to operate all my devices. Initially, it takes a little bit of time to get accustomed to having new buttons to learn and buttons in strange places. I learned the new layouts pretty quickly. Mainly, I am pleased that I no longer need three remotes to watch a movie. One does the job.

If it were not for the battery life being so short, this would be a wonderful product. As it is, I am going to rate it highly because it makes so much sense and is so easy to learn. Just be aware that you are going to have to stock up on batteries.