Any opinions on the Sharp DV-HR300?

Agreed Joe, dont ever mess with the manufacturer. I never go that route. No matter how reputable the company, its general practice to screw or forget the consumer. All of them are like that. Thats the reason I shop at Amazon, their policy is to make the resale not the actual sale. I love them. Ive returned many dvds the same way, no hassles just plain good ole fashioned customer service. But in regards to the actual Sharp product, I really do think they have a decent one here, give it a chance.

 

Does anyone use DirectTv with the Sharp. I see the Sharp Gets chanels 1-125 only, and DirectTV goes up to 800 chanels will I be able to record all the chanels?

 

I have BrightHouse, my coaxial going into my cable box an back out to my Sharp. I use the cable box to change the channels and set the Sharp to record from whatever is on channel 4. I prefer it that way actually. I dont see why it would be any different with DirectTV You have a box similar to cable, as long as it has a coaxial out. You would be doing the same thing I do with my cable box. Using the DirectTV box to switch the channels. The sharp only sees a signal on channel 4 regardless of what channel it is. I hope this helps.

 

Joe and Everyone Else: The Sharp unit is outstanding. I have burned over 100 dvd's, while always burning to the hard drive first, so do the math. Not once has a disc failed while recording. I regret not getting the extra warranty, but at the rate I'm going this unit seems to be quite a workhorse with nice bells & whistles to boot. Joe, just send the unit back if you haven't already and get another one. I don't think anyone here has had a problem with the Sharp worth not buying it all over again. No regrets here. Don

 

I agree wholeheartedly with Don. This thing is a peach. As with all electronics and especially software related. Dont force the unit to perform beyond its normal processing speed. To many people get inpatient and press buttons repeatedly or go back and forth thru the pages, not letting the processor do its thing. Of course you will get some error doing that. When you work the different functions, pause for a moment let the machine do its thing.
Another thing is ventilation. Make damn sure youre operating the thing with plenty of ventilation, I have a small box fan behind my entertainment center ventilating all of the electronics I have. Its a proven fact that harddrives work faster when they are cool. This machine is no different. The cooler the environment the better it will perform. But I do have to say that after having the Philips 985, which is physically twice the size of this unit, with much less capabilities and have it malfunction the way it did. I am totally content with the Sharp. But as with all new things, of course we will say well it doesnt do this or, I wish it could do that. Naturally it could have much more to offer. Thats why they introduce newer versions, new models. But for what this offers in this super slim size it will suffice my needs. I too have burned discs and have never once received one coaster for my efforts. I have plenty of those with my official coaster maker the philips 985

 

Agree. I have had nothing but good experiences with the Sharp. I do find the timer function to be a bit quirky as are a couple of other functions, however, even if you gave up a couple of features you would find that the Sharp still does more than any other recorder for less money. Just think of some of the features that you may take for granted in the Sharp.

Hard Drive - Sharp,Panasonic - Yes, Sony - Nope, Philips - Nope
Time Base Correction Sharp,Sony - Yes, Philips, Panasonic - Nope (as I recall) )
This is the feature that gets overlooked the most, but you really will not be able to dub VHS without it very well)
Time Shift - Sharp - Ridiculously easy, Sony - DVD-RW only.
Editing - Same Story
Recording Quality - Sharp, Sony, Panasonic - Very good all the way to LP, even EP with VHS, Philips - Not close

Sony does have the advantage of being multi-format.

My only complaint with the Sharp is that it is so easy, I mow through a stack of blanks about every month. I tend to record everything. Nary a coaster yet.

 

So did anyone try to see if it can playback/record in PAL (for the US model)? I'd be very interested to know!

Thanks,
Lucien

 

I don't have a PAL source, but from the manual:
This recorder is compatible with the NTSC format. Make sure to check the format of the disc before purchasing. It also specifically says that Discs recordrd on PAL format cannot be played. It is also Region 1. I have never checked for a patch.

Sorry

 

Can somebody help me high speed dub to dvd from hard disk?
I record everything to hard disk at SP format but when I try to dub to DVD at the same format (SP) it saying unable to high speed dub. I have to do everything at normal speed which is a pain.
I don't fully understand the proirity dubbing option/settings.
Help Help Help Please.....
This is the negative comment is I cant this high speed dubbing.

 

I just ordered the Sharp DV-HR300U from B&H in N.Y. and now I see the following comment at Amazon. I'm getting nervous. Anyone else with this problem?

Great machine but....., June 18, 2004
Reviewer: An electronics fan from Boston,MA
This Sharp DVD recorder is fairly easy to use and works well with one exception. If you are at all interested in recording channels 56-60,you may be out of luck. On both machines I got, (great service by Amazon getting me a replacement) the channel automatically changes to one of the Line inputs so channels 56-60 will not record. Sharp is aware that "some of their machines" have this issue, but there is not a recall at this time. They suggested that I could send it into them for repair. They do not seem to have nailed down how many bad ones are out there. Since I am 0/2, I have decided to keep shopping.

 

Me again. Belatedly saw JoeKixxon's message on 16 Jun. Sounds like the same problem. Oh joy!!

 

I suppose if youre using the deck to change the channels it would be a problem, which is the norm for most users. I use the cable box and have my unit set on "4" I've recorded every channel on cable including VOD "Video On Demand" and havent encountered any problems using it that way. In my case I havent even checked to see if my unit has that problem or not. At this point, I honestly dont really care since my setup has always been using the cable box to make the channel changes anyway... even when my VCR was hooked up I used that way. I have performed just about every other function with this machine and still consider it a worthwhile investment regardless of the channel issue or not. But of course as long as I can record from my cable box all is well in Gotham City.

 

Good for you, mannycam, but I don't use a cable box.

 

Then by all means Cordelia get your money back.

 

UPS delivered the Sharp recorder today and my fears are confired. I put it in the rack and tried "timer recording". The machine automatically changed the following channels to another input.
CH 55 to L1
CH 56 to L2
CH 57 to L3
CH 58 to CH 60 to --.

The other channels I tried appeared to work correctly.

I am waiting for B&H to email me a shipping label to return it. Can anyone recommend a recorder that doesn't have some malfunction?

 

I am wondering if the folks with the problem are going through all the setup. I have run some tests and have no problem recording channel 60 with the timer. What on earth is on these channels that would outshine the other outstanding capabilities of this box????

They must have introduced some problem. It seems that those of us that have had one for awhile have no issues, but those just getting them have problems.

 

Here is link to another forum discussing this issue. Sharp300 vs Amazon. Thought is was interesting.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=416586

 

Interesting to the people having problems, not to those of us who arent. Very sorry to hear youre having problems with yours. I too like BayuTiger have also tried the channel setup with the auto timer and cant see the problem youre referring to. As he said it could be a bad batch. So far I have not encountered any problems with my unit and can freely endorse my recommendations to others based on my experience. The machine in every aspect has performed perfectly. To date I have burned over 100 DVDs without seeing any kind of error. And have succesfully recorded timer based shows without missing a one.
On another note, I do hope the buyers who have had problems with their units, get their issues resolved quickly. As far as purchases at amazon and the increase in the price of the unit, this only means that the unit is doing well and has sold well. This is the only reason I know of that a price in a product is increased, not because of it being or returned, but because of good sales. Its good business sense.
Well let me get back to my burning, its amazing how many vhs home movies I had..lol Good luck

 

Now, now, children, behave!
For anyone interested more members of the AVS Forum are reporting timer recording problems. Also Amazon no longer carries the Sharp machine. They refer you to other companies.

 

I am sorry mom, but no youre quite right in bringing this up Cordelia. This forum is for the good the bad and the ugly of this machine. And there is no doubt that some are seeing this timer problem. If Sharp catches it and makes some kind of patch, that would be great. To potential buyers, the lowdown is this some of us have not encountered the timer problem with their purchase and some of us have. It does put a bad mark on this otherwise incredible machine, thats to bad. And of course the machine if designed to perform one way, realistically it should do that very thing. The timer issue is a BIG thing since the majority do use it exactly for that purpose, and if most of the buyers are encountering this issue then by all means SHARP should address it. To those who havent seen this happen with theirs, they can hope it doesnt. But again mine has performed without a hitch. And since my main reason in buying it was to archive my collection of aging video tapes and an occasional show here and there I guess it boils down to that very thing. My setup is using the cable box as a tuner and not the Sharp, But thats not what the machine was designed to do, it was designed to work as a tuner. Apparently with some buyers it has failed in this. Its no laughing matter, no doubt Sharp will feel the sting for this batch flaw.

The Philips 985 was definitely a bad trip. It failed in everything it was supposed to do. Even in playing store-bought movies. And aside from that its monstrous in size, so I cant help but see it every time I walk in..lol. It is my official coaster maker though so I cant just throw it out. I bought this one
after looking at what was out in the market to replace it and everything I have asked for it to do, it has done. Its like waking up from a bad dream and then going into a good one. As long as it keeps doing what I need it to do, Sharp has a happy customer.