Any opinions on the Sharp DV-HR300?

yes i'm in perth western australia and have been to a few shops and havent seen a sharp. I like my sharp but that doesnt mean its the best on the market. I almost settled on telling dad to get a pioneer but just read that it doesnt playback dvd+r. I've read bad stuff about the sony. The Lg has audio sync issues. the panasonic doesnt record to dvd-rw. Geez i cant seem to find one machine that does everything i need it to do.

One a different note....I have a digital set top box connected to my dvd recorder so i can record digital tv....is this the only was to do it or can the stb be plugged into the tv and still be able to record on the sharp? My dad has a satellite box, a digital stb, and a home theatre dvd player (and a plasma tv). Will i have to plug the sat box and digital stb into the dvd recorder i finally settle on?

 

yes i'm in perth western australia and have been to a few shops and havent seen a sharp. I like my sharp but that doesnt mean its the best on the market. I almost settled on telling dad to get a pioneer but just read that it doesnt playback dvd+r. I've read bad stuff about the sony. The Lg has audio sync issues. the panasonic doesnt record to dvd-rw. Geez i cant seem to find one machine that does everything i need it to do.

One a different note....I have a digital set top box connected to my dvd recorder so i can record digital tv....is this the only was to do it or can the stb be plugged into the tv and still be able to record on the sharp? My dad has a satellite box, a digital stb, and a home theatre dvd player (and a plasma tv). Will i have to plug the sat box and digital stb into the dvd recorder i finally settle on?

 

Wook
Sorry I can't help you with connecting a set top digital box. I'm still with anagogue. I do have a cable TV box and I can record on my Sharp from cable tv programmes but can't watch another cable station at the same time!
In Perth I visited Megamart a large electrical store (part of the Myers group) They had the Sharp 300 and the 350 on sale 4 weeks ago. The only problem I could see was the price! Around AU$1000 for the 300. Cheers Silver

 

Hi majorusa..

Yes, those are the files.

The serial starts with 404718...

MM

 

Hi. It looks that you are doing all the right way. The serial number allows self firmware updates. I do not see any reason for which the update would not work. Unless the disks are not finalized or you are using packet writing. Maybe you should use nero. This was the program used by me to burn a CD-RW. I did exatly what I wrote in my thread and it worked like a charm.
Another interesting thing is that previous firmware update mine was 1.35 not 1.34. Try again. Good-luck.

 

Hi

I would just like to add a very big [bold]"Thank You"[/bold] to EA5E, MannyCAM, Silver64 and all of the other contributors on this thread.

Like most 'fans' of this machine, the only thing I could find to let it down was the lack of multi-region support (why, oh why, oh why, oh why...???!!!)

Have now downloaded EA5E's patch and will take the plunge shortly - hope to be region free soon.

Cheers

SharpDV

 

Hi SharpDV
For my part thanks for the compliments. It's EA5E we have to thank for the MR patch. Assuming you are in the UK/Australia i.e. regions 2 or 4 the patch works like a dream. Other areas I can't comment on. If in the US or other region be careful
Cheers Silver 64

 

Hi.

I was thinking, what would happen if you combined the previously regionfree drive hack with the newest 350S drive firmware from sharp.de ?
The regionfree hack says that the drive firmware version is 1.35 and the new one from sharp.de is 1.43
The drive firmware you can download from Sharp looks exactly like CD2 in the regionfree hack.
Enny one tried this and their 350S survived ?

 

Hi

Applied the patch & now have a region free machine - I'm in the UK & it was a Comet web shop purchase last year for £299 - bargain!

Even better now that I don't have to backup my R1&3 DVDs to watch them on the Sharp.

Cheers

Julian

 

Hi Julian ( SharpDV) Like you I bought the Sharp from Comet at £299. and since then I haven't had a regret. Ok it may have one or two little quirks but it's still early days for DVD recorders with hard drives and as time goes by other will no doubt be other machines that do a better job. Thanks to EA5E we have a multi region player and I for one (touch wood) haven't had a problem Cheers John (Silver 64)

 

majorusa..

I see you say in your procedure : "the drive should be 1.35." Like you pointed out as well, mine is on 1.34.
Any idea where I can get the 1.35 firmware version from?

MM

 

[bold]Sound Problem![/bold]

hi,

i have just obtained the DV-HR300 which came packaged when i purchased an aquos 37" LCD TV (which is awesome). I must say so far everything is very promising - except one thing. When I switch to HDD mode and watch TV with the ability to record, pause live TV etc .. i have no sound output whatsoever. It is connected to the TV tuner via the supplied video/audio cable from video/audio outputs. Why oh why is there no sound when viewing TV in HDD mode? I have tried everything in the menus. Playing DVD's works perfectly.

I'm still a newby to all this having suffered with a very basic TV for a long time .. i'd really appreciate some help.

 

these have probably been answered before but...

Why does the reset button not reset anything? it froze when i was finalizing a dvd and no matter how many times i pressed that button the same screen would come up.

Is there anyway of picking a thumbnail for the dvd menu? Seems the only pic that u can have there is the first fram of whatever video clip is on there

 

Do I take it nobody has a patch or new firmware (excepting Sharp maybe for a DVHR350H?

The H model is currently £299 in the UK so I succumbed to semi impulse buy when buying a Sharp Aquos 26" for the bedroom.

 

cliffb
Why do you want a patch or firmware for the DVHR350H? As far as I am aware you do not require any firmware upgrade for this model. However should you wish to make the recorder multi-region then you will find details posted on this forum at an earlier date
Cheers Silver 64

 

Hi Silver

My understanding was that a multiregion patch was available only for te S model.

I'll reread the messages!

The unit arrived today so I'll be trying it out shortly.

 

Silver,

I found the download! Thanks. Now I've got to summon up the courage to update a brand new machine. I have a number of region 1 disks and the alternative of converting them in the PC just isn't attractive.

If I do upgrade I'll let you know if region 1 is playable here.

 

Observations

1. Yup the manual gets 'null points'.
2. The video record quality in SP and Fine is acceptable.
3. There is no chance anyone else in the house will be able to use it. The wife has already thrown her hands up at "yet another remote control with 2 million buttons"
4. I can't seem to record from SCART input (L2) to HDD but I'll keep trying.
5. Linux is _much_ easier than this to set up IMHO
6. For the money it's excellent value so far (2 hours).
7. Firmware flashing is looking likely for region free but I have a later version already installed then those mentioned in the thread.

 

Hi again Cliffb
I have the 300H model since last September when I got it for £299 from Comet. Like you initially I was a wee bit scared to mess about with the region coding. However I downloaded the two discs ( see earlier post on this forum of EA5E)from the net and I now have an all region machine! Personally I love my Sharp and at £299 for the 350H you got a bargain. BTW Where did you get it in the UK at that price?
I can't figure out your problem recording from TV using scart. I use this method and I don't have a problem.
Best regards
Silver

 

Hi (ho) Silver (sry couldn't resist it)
I got the machine from www.empiredirect.co.uk. I also bought a 26" LCD at the same time but they were separate items and not a deal as it were. Both items were brand new boxed and arrived two days after order placement.
Regarding the recording problem I have: I can set up to record from tuner to HDD no problem but if I select L2 and then record it does so but when I hit play it shows DVD on the display and shows an error message (can't remember what but will check). Obviously I'd like to set up one of the preset channels for L2 input so I can record video (or possibly RGB) from the satellite receiver as the quality is much higher of course. I've only played with it for an hour or two so far so it's probably finger trouble.
It would be good to have two CDs with the current software so it could be flashed back to default in the event of trouble with the Aussie firmware. It's so pointless having this region nonsense in this day and age.
Please let me know how to program to record from an AV input either via the timer or instant record.