Any opinions on the Sharp DV-HR300?

Yes it wipes your HDD clean and resets the unit to it's factory settings. I do this after 200 hours or so of TV recordings or DVD burns. As my buddy Silver64 pointed out, it's more like a PC and less like a vcr, so re-intializing is quite important when coming across strange errors and weird occurrences. Not that its the answer to everything but it sure is the very first thing to try. Also unplugging the unit at times, its like a reboot to your PC. Ive had mine for 2 years as well, and no real problems so far. Of course with all of the new models coming out its just a matter of time before many of us will most likely upgrade to something more current.
regards, MannyCAM

 

Hi Manny
Good to see you are active again and as usual giving users of the 300/350 your knowledge and good advice. I would certainly concur with your statement to initialize (re-format)the HDD regularly as this helps the machine delouse the bugs! It won't fix everything but it will definately help. I note your comments in respect of newer models coming along and indeed Sharp have done so with at least four models since we bought the 300. Given my experience with Sharp I would be tempted to replace with another when, as eventually it must happen,my trusty 300 departs this world and I need another recorder. Everyone will note how prices for DVD/HDD recorders have dropped and will surely continue to do so but my only worry will be which future format Blu-ray or HD-DVD will win. I guess it would be too much to hope that my 300 will last until the manufacturers settle which it's gonna be!

 

Damn this thing!! tried to initialize hdd over night, froze up 4 bars from the end (waited 3hrs and no progress, much to the kids/wifes disgust..) so reset. Still had same error when trying to record to DVD (repairing disc etc..) but now comes up with HDD error, contact sharp service centre etc.. when trying to record to HDD!
This has got to have been the slowist, most buggiest piece of electronics I've ever owned, no wonder sharp were giving them away!
I'm reluctant to spend any money on it as I'd rather put it towards something more useful - like a 16lb sledge hammer to destroy it.

 

Batpants
Sorry to hear about all your problems. I would have thought that initializing your HDD would have helped. It seems to me you have'nt done this as a normal practice since you first experienced problems over the 2 years you've had it. When the initializing you were trying yesterday froze,you say you "reset" the Sharp. Just a thought, try to initailize the hard drive again. This time if it freezes unplug the power socket and then power up again. If this fails then a call to Sharp service might be the only resort(apart from the sledge hammer!). I can understand the frustration you have had with your machine but you might well have had similar problems with other brands (Phillips comes to mind). The technology is relatively new and hasn't been without problems for other manufactureres as well.

 

Hi Silver! Nice to hear from you as well old friend. Been so busy lately. Just ended a 10 year relationship with my former employer..woopie. I hate job hunting. LOL
Anyway, I would agree with you on the comments to Batpants, but would like to add that he is right about not investing any more into this one. Sounds alot like the philips I wrote about a couple years ago. There's a lemon in every bunch. Unfortunately there was a whole bushel in that model from Philips. Batpants you might be better off getting one of the more current units coming out. But one word of advice. Don't write off any particular brand name because of 1 bad experience. As Silver already stated, and I happen to agree, it's a new medium with a large learning curve. Unfortunately the consumer picks up the bill in the short term. If you recall the first VCRS that came out they were built like world war 1 army tanks. They chewed up many a tapes in their infancy.
In regards to DVD recorders, they are dropping to rediculously low prices. I paid 899.00 for the Philips 985 when I bought it. It lasted 1 year. Then I bought the Sharp and here it is 2 years later, and still going strong. Even if I do buy another unit, I will still use this one for recording my favorite TV shows and special programming.
Batpants, so sorry to hear of your experience with the Sharp.
Kind regards, MannyCAM

 

Cheers guys - a miracle has happened! I tried the initialize again, and after 5hrs it seemed to stop four bars from the end, however I noticed that the clock was still running. I thought I'd leave it (as I've now taken it out of the 'loop' so the kids were happy) and 12 hrs later it had progressed another two notches. After watching chicken little at the cinema I returned home to an "Initialize Failed" message, and still came up with the hdd failure message when trying to record - so not one to give up I depowered and tried again, this time it went through all the bars in about 2 minutes and "Initilize Complete" was eventually displayed. I tried the hdd record and this worked fine. Next I tried the DVD and this came up with the "Repairing disc" message after about 10 secs so I tried a fresh disc (about the 10th I've got through!) and pressed record, only this time after 5secs I hit the record stop - bingo a sucessful record to DVD. Next I recorded to the same disc again, this time it didn't stop - job done.
It will be interesting to see if it will now be a bit more reliable in the future, and I guess I need to intialize a bit more often!
As for your other comments I agree all manufacturers have good and bad products, the 37" sharp aquos which hangs in my living room has been awesome, however it does frustrate me when there are obvious defects which should have been detected prior to release, ie the timer problem and poor HD disc management (they don't tell you in the sales brochure that you need to periodically wipe the Harddrive).
Anyway I'm a happy bunny now, cheers, - anyone wanna buy a sledge hammer?

 

Cheers Batpants
Fingers crossed that you have a permanent result!

 

Awesome Batpants!!! Hooray. Sledge Hammer..LOL
MannyCAM

 

Hi

Would anybody have a recent link to a multi region patch? I have been through the past
pages, and can't find anything still active. I have an Australian model HR300.

Thanks!

 

Hi I Would Like One To Plz For Sharp DV-HR 350
Thanks

 

Hi Edd and Repeater, The original link for the MR patch was on page 11 on this forum. This was the download that I used to make my 300H multi-region (also works on the Aussie model).
I've have had a look and it would appear to be "dead".
Anyone else any ideas of how to access the original download?
Cheers Silver 64

 

Hello all, I'm back with a new problem: burning DVD-RWs!

I use my Sharp DV-HR300 for recording on its HDD TV programs that I then transfer on DVD-RWs to watch on various Macintosh powerbooks or iMacs. And here, I quite often get the computer DVD player software to stop reading with a message "fatal error, the disk might be dirty or scratched" (this is an approximate translation from French). If I want to see the rest of the recording, I have to restart and to skip the chapter where the crash happens.

The problem doesn't come from the computers (on the four of them it stops at exactly the same place) nor from the software (both Apple-DVD-Player and MPlayer-6 freeze at the same frame).

When I put the DVD-RW back in the Sharp, it can read it. It does it however with a hiccup when passing the frame where the computers get stranded.

It doesn't come from the media as I first thought it would. I have the same problem with Verbatim, Sony and TDK. It doesn't come from the HDD either. When I use the same original title to burn different DVD-RWs the crashes, if they happen, happen at different places on the different disks.

It might then be something in the way my Sharp burns DVDs. A problem with speed? Is it some thing I could fix?

 

Pilchard,

I have had a similar problem with various discs burnt and played on my Sony laptop. I have found that usually there are no problems playing on my Sharp or other DVD players. The problem occurs most often with PowerDVD. WinDVD does not seem to produce the same error so try changing your DVD software.

Hope this works for you

 

I would have to agree with Brunnen, Pilchard. If you are not getting any disc errors creating the DVD's then its not the Sharp causing the anomaly. Its a crazy medium and one can lose control if they don't take it slow and make a list of the things it can be and eliminate them one at a time. Methodically until youre left with the cause of the problem or at the very least...a compromise to it.
regards, mannyCAM

 

Hi Repeater I Have The Files Give Me Your E-mail Adrress And Ill Send It To You Later Man

 

Hi Pilchard/Brunnen G, Way back in this forum ( page 16 ) there was a discussion on the compatability of certain brands of DVD-RW discs. It appears that the Sharp only likes DVD-RW Version 1.1 discs and the manual states that Version 1.2 are not suitable. Members experiences showed this was the case. It also seems that only 2x and not 4xDVD-RW's were suitable.Have any other forum members found this was the case? Also I assume you finalised the RW's in the Sharp before you attempted to play them on another DVD player? If not I am sure you are aware they will only playback on the Sharp.
Maybe not the answer but I hope this helps. Cheers Silver64

 

Good point Silver, and according to the manual prior to recording on a new RW you are supposed to initialize them. Apparently this unit not only erases any existing content on the disc but also prepares the RW for recording, regardless of the disc being new or having any content on it at all.

A point about finalization right from the manual: "That it can take up to an hour to finalize a disc and 2 factors that can add time to the process is not enough content on the disc or several titles on the disc.

MannyCAM

 

Thank you Brunnen, Manny and Silver, nice to see I am not alone!

First, I (of course!) initialize, record and finalize the RW's on video mode in the Sharp
before attempting to play them on my computers.

I also only use only 2x and not 4xDVD-RW's

I also noticed that I must use Version 1.1 discs and that the manual states that Version 1.2
are not suitable. This is the reason why I use Sony DVD-RW 2x/1x Ver.1.1

I also use Verbatim (43233) DVD-RW DataLifePlus 4.7GO 2x although nothing on the
package nor on the Verbatim website mentions the Version.

Well, and I have the same problem with both brands! I think it has to do with the Sharp
recording and not the computer playing because when I play the DVD-RW back on the
Sharp, although it does not stop on the frame that crashes the computers, it still freezes a
couple seconds before going on playing.

It also happens that some recordings are read all the way through by the computer with no
problem, unfortunately this happens barely half the time. May be I should just accept it…?

 

Well Pilchard,
You've got a point. If it is happening on the Sharp then it is the way its writing the information or in this case the lack of it. Something similar has happened to me on my PC's burner on my e-machine. Its the dual layer 8.5 gb capacity burner. Works flawlessly for the regular 4 gb discs but gives me the same issues youve mentioned when playing back the disc on my stand-alone dvd players. Hickups and frame freezing, I haven't as of yet tried any other brands of DVDs, but I will solve it sooner or later. I do think that we could all agree on one thing. The format is a temperamental thing and will still surprize us with new issues. But I keep thinking that the problem is in the discs and the way the machine or PC is reading it.
MannyCAM

 

Hi Again Pilchard, Sorry if I implied that you may have been doing something wrong when you were transferring from the Hard Drive to DVD-RW's.I can't figure this one out. Just wondering. Do you ever record from TV directly on to RW's and if so do you also experience the problem? Could the HDD be fragmented? Again just thoughts Cheers Silver 64