Any opinions on the Sharp DV-HR300?

Mason, I had similar situations with the Sharp locking up on me in the early stages. But looking back I believe what really happened was me not being patient and wanting whatever to happen quicker. Remember that the Sharp is a computer more or less. It boots up, it has a buffer, saves to disc from time to time, etc. It takes time to do everything and usually gives you a few seconds to "undo" most things. Not bad. This machine is by far ahead of the others, you'll grow to appreciate what it can do. Ask Manny, we're still discovering new things that this baby can do, with he over 500 and me approaching 300 dics burned. Take care, Don

 

I contacted Sharp trying to find out if there was a range of serial numbers that had the 55-60 timer problem. They said they would get back to me. So far they have not. I really want this machine, but not with this problem.

 

Hey Mason_200, MannyCAM here...
I maybe wrong but I have a feeling if you do get word back from Sharp, they will most likely say that the problem was eliminated in the later versions of the recorder. It wouldnt make sense doing it any other way since new models are released on a yearly basis in most cases if not sooner. But I would be interested to know either way. I dont use the recorder for channel changes so this error doesnt matter much to me but I would still like to know their answer....if any. Hopefully not but you may have to hound them for an answer.

 

Just brought this machine will be with me tommorow (UK now £299) just was after a few questions answered.

Can you record from external source e.g. camrecorder straight onto the hard drive as want to make mutiple copies of my wedding video for friends/family?

What sort of media does this machine like, can you get away with using cheap media?

Does the dvd drive come right out or is it one of these machines you have to angle the dvd to get it in?

At home I only have sky no tv ariel I presume I can record from Sky and set the hard drive to record from sky etc like normal video player?

Any help would be appreciated

 

"Can you record from external source e.g. camrecorder straight onto the hard drive as want to make mutiple copies of my wedding video for friends/family?"

Yes you can record from any external source, that's where this honey excels. Especially if your source is Hi8, Svhs or better yet miniDV. The unit does have firewire input, but not firewire output. So burning to DVD will be needed to get the exact clone of the original. No loss with the digital input from miniDV. A very slight loss in overall quality is noticed from Hi8, SVHS 8mm or vhs. But nothing to cry about since once burned to disc you end up with a very sturdy and durable playback medium that will stand the test of time. Any video source once recorded to the harddrive will also produce the same quality over and over again with no loss from hardrive to dvd. A great machine. But be warned that this particular model did have some problems with timer based settings. The error occurs when programming the unit to switch to the channel you want to record from. You can follow the earlier postings from other buyers to read more about it. Other than that no other problems have been noticed. I burned well over 500 dvds and have recorded without any problems various TV shows but using the cable box to set the channels and not the unit itself.
Cheers Nikie745, MannyCAM

 

I have mine connected to my sky+ box here in uk, but there seems to be a little sync loss when viewing the sky broadcasts

kenny

 

Not familiar with that setup. You might be able to get some help with that system from the tech people at the Sharp site. What kind of synch problems are you having? Sound issues or just picture loss or breakup?

 

sound problems,

tried both the optical audio and phono leads but still the same

 

Hello All

I found this forum when doing research on the DV-HR300U. I am thinking about getting the Sharp DV-HR300U myself. From reading the forum, it sounds like a great machine. I know it can record an external video source to its 80G hard drive, which can latter be copied to a DVD. I wonder if it also has the option to record an external video source (NTSC or RS-170 format) directly to DVD.
Anyone know where I can download a pdf manual for the unit.

Thanks a bunch
h2nguyen

 

Yes h2nguyen
You can go directly to DVD, the quality remains the same as it would if it was going to the harddrive first. You can use Rca inputs, Svhs or Digital (Firewire) input and burn it directly to DVD. Welcome to the forum

 

Thanks Mannycam

It is the machine I am looking then. I will definitely give it a try. There is a wealth of info in this forum. I am glad I have stumbled into it.

h2nguyen

 

www.sharp.co.uk has the manual for the H model

 

THANKS Nickie745, good thing to know

 

Just bought this from Comet website. Is it possible to make it multiregion?

 

No....I don't think so. I maybe wrong but I don't think you can on what I've noticed in my experience with it.

 

Just thought i'd let you know i have my laptop connected to the DV socket and can transfer movie files over by using Scenalyzer

handy as means i can edit on my pc and send completed files to recorder for dvd burning without having to do the mpeg encoding on my pc

kenny

 

Kenny explain the process a little more if you would...are these home movies that you've first transferred to your PC for editing and then playback to the DVD recorder for burning? And what's the benefit of using the software you mentioned over any other? thanks Manny

 

Scenalyzer allows you to capure via firewire or I-link from yo camera and depending on your camera allows you transfer edited stuff back to tape.

Now i film soccer matches then edit them and then encode them for dvd which takes a lot of time.

Now i can capture them from my camera into my pc or laptop, edit what i want out then instead of software encoding(which can take many hours) i just turn the sharp to DV input hook up my pc to it via firewire then record onto the recorder hard disk and then to DVD.

May be better ways but going to try this for a few disks

kenny

 

Thanks Kenny, sounds great! I've never tried sending footage right from my PC with the firewire, will have to try it. Keep us informed of your experiences with it.
Manny

 

http://scenalyzer.com/

all you need to do is select DV INPUT on sharp
i am burning a disk now so will let you know in a bit, but it saves messig around with bitrates as i just selected fill disk

kenny