Any opinions on the Sharp DV-HR300?

thanks for the reply silver.

Also, if u finalise a dvd-rw in the sharp will it play in a regular dvd player that reads -rw? i tried a dvd-rw in my lg dvd player but it didnt work...it musnt read -rw discs i guess.

 

HiAgain Wook. There could be several reasons why a DVD-RW you've recorded on the Sharp won't playback on another brand of player.Assuming you finalized the -RW theoretically it should play on any player. However as you mention it could be the LG player you have that won't read -RW(your manual should confirm this) but sometimes it's scratches on the surface of the disk or even a thumbprint that prevents the machine reading the info. In addition it might well be the brand of DVD-RW media you've used.
Although I haven't had a problem playing back DVD-RW's I've made, the Sharp manual does state "We do not guarantee that playback will be possible with all DVD players"! and I guess this applies to both DVD-R and -RW media!

 

Andyloc,
I don't think to many members of this forum are going to supply you with the amount of information youre inquiring about. Number 1, no time. number 2 Most of that should be done by looking up a particular brand and going thru the spec sheets and pdf manuals. Presenting issues which are not included or not quite clear in the pdfs or spec sheets would most likely provoke an answer from members.
Youre just asking way to much, a bit overwhelming.

MannyCAM

 

Hi Manny
Re your last post. Couldn't agree more! Silver

 

Just tried the MR update on a [bold]UK[/bold] spec machine. My [bold]region 1 disks[/bold] play perfectly.
Thanks to everyone involved.
Phil

 

Hi Silver! Hey ole buddy, weren't you having problems playing region 1? In regards to Phil's recent post. How come its working on his UK model and not yours?
Just curious.....

 

Hi Manny (and EA5E), Following Phil's post I tried again to make my 300 multi-region. After loading disc 1 the display first showed 200 then 20E (NOT 208 as it should)before ejecting the tray. I guess my download of disc 1 from the website was a bummer! I am going to try again as Phil didn't seem to have a problem
Cheers Silver

 

Thanks to EA5E and jpj101(Phil)my HR300 is now Multi-Region.
Seems like I had a problem with Disc 1 after all. Anyway I burned a new CD1 from the download site provided by EA5E and re assured by the experience of jpj101 this time all went as planned and I am now able to play region 1 DVD's(and I assume all other regions as well) Thanks guys. This makes this little gem better than ever! Silver 64

 

Allllright Silver!!! Even though I havent needed to use the fix, I too want to express my gratitude to the generous members at this forum.

Great going guys, and thanks to afterdawn.com for being here for us.

 

Hello,
As far as I can tell I'm a happy ownwer of a Sharp DV-HR300S. Just recently I discoverd a firmware update provided by Sharp Germany/Austria on their home page (link provided below). Although I have never experienced any problems with my Sharp, I could'nt resist downloading and upgrading the firmware. My 300S is still working fine. On the other hand I cannot see any improvements whatever that should be.
I should say I'm norwegian, german is not my native language. As far as I can understand Sharp's instructions, the upgrade is valid only for machines with either a) a red dot next to the serial no. or b) if the serial no. is higher than 404717604 (mine happened to be 404717605). The download will upgrade your firmware to version 1.20,
The most interesting thing (maybe)is the "how to check your firmware version" guide. I would assume that the firmware of any model from any part of the world could be verified by pushing simoultaneously "Channel^ and Rec stop" on the front of the sharp for 2 secs, another 2 sec push will take you back to normal.

http://www.sharp.de/softwareupdates/dvhr300s/dvhr300S_firmware_2.html

 

Welcome to the forum stovdal, and many thanks on the firmware information and link.
I've always been hesitant on upgrading my machine with any firmware. But my reasoning is very simple, the old American saying "If it's not broke, don't fix it". Up to now, I haven't needed my machine to do anymore than what it does. It has performed without any major problems, quite honestly the minor glitches have not been either annoying nor repetitive. All in all, I am quite fond of my lil machine. Stovdal, I am curious however, when you do discover what practical value your firmware upgrade has had on your unit, please let us know.

 

Hi,

I've been reading this forum on and off since I purchased my DV-HR300H last September. On the whole I'm very pleased with it considering the fledging nature of the technology.

I occaisionally have failed recordings though when trying to record from my humax fox2t Freeview receiver. If I am present I can see a message stating the programme is protected and cannot be recorded. I've ony seen this so far from Ch5. I can record fine to my Humax PVR8000T but wondered if anyone knew if CH5 are encoding their programmes at all?

My other probem is recording to DVD-R I have tried 2 different media with v.poor results. I always record in video mode and all goes well until finalization which fails. Both the media I have tried are reported by nero as Ritek GO4 which I chose as there have been good reports on the web on this media and I have no problems when used with my pioneer A08 burners. I Can normally record to DATASAFE 2x DVD-RW without problems however and this is what I use.

I cannot dub at high speed from timer recordings either.

Regards

From showery/sunny Devon.

 

Hi,

I tried this:

 

hello Langstone,

Before I upgraded my machine (yesterday, as a matter of fact) the firmware details were:

Model: 0303 - R 02 - Version: 00000104 - 4/1/20 - Identical to yours.

After the upgrade:

Model: 0354 - R 00 - Version: cccc010b - 4/6/23 - Showing the multi-region upgrade.

The upgrade went fine and I've successfully played regions 1 to 3 discs.

One obvious point, but worth repeating anyway, is that you don't drag the Disk1 (or 2) folder into your cd writer - just the contents of same. Follow the instructions on "DVHR350X_MRP.txt" and power-off as instructed. The screen display says something like "don't switch off", but ignore that and follow the instructions on that "**_MRP.txt" and it should work out ok.

Perhaps some of you out there would like to confirm that bit about ignoring the on-screen warning, as I did find it very off-putting.

Regards,

Peter

 

We are talking about two different upgrades here. The multiregion fix provided in one earlier post is not the same as the one laid out on Sharp's german site. The latter is only an upgrade to ver. 1.20, and is only valid for the "S" model, according to Sharp.
By the way, the S/N displayed during the version check is not the actual S/N of the machine which is prinnted on the data label on the back of the unit.

 

Hi Mannycam and other US forum members. I am looking for your help. I have recorded a UK BBC TV program on to dvd using my Sharp 300H. I would like to send a copy to a friend in the USA. I assume that this DVD will play on my friends PC. However will it playback on his dvd player(model unknown) through his TV?
I know my Sharp will playback Reg 1 disks that have been recorded in NTSC via my UK Sony TV. Any help would be appreciated Cheers Silver.

 

Oooo, Silver, Im afraid not, you have 2 standards here. If youre machine made the recording in the PAL standard, it will most certainly have to be converted to play on US television sets. Ive included an interesting link on the subject. http://www.alkenmrs.com/video/standards.html
Basically, DVDs are merely carriers of data files with compressed audio-visual information. This information can be placed on DVD in one of two resolutions; 720 x 576 pixels (PAL DVDs), or 720 x 480 pixels (NTSC DVDs), and with various frame rates (24, 25, and 30 frames per second are common). The DVD player itself takes this data file and formats it appropriately for display in either PAL or NTSC. But its one or the other. Now you might check with him, televsions have made great strides so no telling what the newer ones are capable of doing.
regards, Manny

 

Thanks for the prompt reply Manny, That website you gave me really only talks about the problems of VHS tape conversion from PAL to NTSC and the incompatability of the two systems. What I can't get my head around is that I don't have a problem playing NTSC REGION 1 DVD's on my UK multi-region DVD players (not just my Sharp!). These players are essentially made for the playback of PAL dvd's! I also have a Sony VHS(PAL) which has a switch which enables the playback of NTSC tapes. Manny, I do not doubt what you are saying but finally, If I send my mate a region zero dvd I am sure he could play it back through his computer, isn't that correct?
regards Silver

 

Silver, the PC shouldn't have any problems playing the disc....but naturally it would also depend on the DVD reader he might have. I dont think the problem would ly so much in the DVD players in the US. I believe, the weak link in the playback protocol would be the Television set itself, not the DVD player which again is just there to playback what ever files are created on it. It just see's files. But the TV intrepreting the signal would be the issue. American TVS have a faster refresh rate than UK TVS, but have a degraded picture quality when compared to the UK's PAL picture quality.
In any case, I would say let others in the forum share their thoughts as well. I maybe missing something.
Cheer's ole buddy

 

Thank again Manny
I'll go ahead in the hope it'll work on his PC
Best regards
Silver