Digital Home Thoughts: Kameleon One-For-All 8RF Universal Remote Control Reviewed

The Kameleon
So when I first saw this remote, I was totally amazed. Not only was it really good looking, (I guess I am a sucker for shiny and blinky things :-) ) but I also found it to be an extremely full-featured device. The company, One For All, describes the remote as "The Easiest Remote You'll Ever Use... ONE FOR ALL Kameleon is a revolutionary 8-device universal remote control with an Electro-luminescent touch display panel featuring dynamic screens and icons that illuminate only the keys for the device in use." It not only has the ability to control a whole host of devices -- Audio Amplifiers, Audio Receivers, CD, Cable, Cable PVR Combo, Cassette Player, DVD, DVD DVR Combo, DVD PVR Combo, DVR, HDTV, Home Automation, Home Theater Amp, Home Theater in a Box, Mini Disk Player, PVR, PVR DVR Combo, Satellite, Satellite PVR Combo, TV, TV DVD Combo, TV VCR Combo, TV VCR DVD Combo, VCR, VCR DVD Combo, Video Accessories -- but can also operate 8 of these devices. Plus, you can operate a whole combination of these devices in home theatre mode. Setup for any of these devices is extremely easy. The features are incredible too:

• Electro-luminescent Touch Display Technology
  
• Reveals Hidden Screens for Active Devices only;
  
• Brightness Control;
  
• Easy Interactive Set-up;
  
• Key Animation;
  
• Home Theater Mode;
  
• Power Macro;
  
• User Defined Macro Keys;
  
• Learning Capabilities;
  
• UPGRADEABLE via Modem;
  
• Favorite Channel Scan;
  
• FULL DVD Controls;
  
• Digital Ready Menu Keys for Satellite/Cable;
  
• Advanced Functions for Audio/Video Devices.

For a little more money (approx. $20), you can get the same remote with an RF receiver that acts as a nice extender for range. The RF receiver will sit near your devices and the remote, that transmits both IR and RF, can then communicate through walls and large distances. A cool feature also worth mentioning is that the backlight for the device goes off after the remote is idle for 10 seconds. This not only saves battery power but also saves from distraction when the room is dark.

Pros and Cons
So I decided to approach this review in a slightly different way. I generally liked this remote a lot. So I figured I should point out the one/two extremely cool pros and then follow it with the cons and you can judge for yourself if the remote is for you or not.


Figure 1: The Kameleon in all its glory.

The biggest pro for me is the home theatre mode. The next pro was that this remote has the ability to control various PVRs and cable box/PVR combos. The remote looks awesome, with what looks like an illuminated high resolution LCD pad. I have yet to see one that is better looking. The device also has great range even without the RF receiver. One of the coolest features is that the remote has a built in modem and RJ-11 line. This way, the firmware can be upgraded online.

The cons are few but ones that are critical for me. The fact that the Kameleon has a flat surface, while very cool in terms of looks, provides for no tactile feedback. So I am forced to look at the remote when operating it. While this may just be my laziness, I find it to be slightly annoying. A second con is that there are no extra keys to map to special keys from the dedicated remotes, and you cannot use the special macro keys for anything but macros. The remote does allow you to re-map keys, but I didn't feel that I should given that I wanted all the keys already provided. The RF setup was a bit frustrating because I had to spend quite some time before it started working. Finally, the remote needs 4 batteries, a bit much IMHO.

Conclusions
I like the remote. I haven't started using it as my dedicated remote because if doesn't have 4 keys that my Time Warner PVR remote offers, and ones that I need. If those keys were available, or free keys that could be re-mapped, I think I would switch to this remote in a second. However, until then, I use it as a spare (a REALLY NICE spare). :)