Rating: 
Summary: Take Heed
Review: I have had the camera for 2 years and I have gotten the eject the cassette problem. It worked fine until Dec' 03.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T BUY IT
Review: I don't write reviews, but since I'm here shopping for a new camcorder, I would relate my past experience with this model, if for no other reason than to make me feel better.I bought this unit over a year ago and should have paid more attention to the other reviewers. At that time there were more positives than negatives and the price was right (bought direct from Amazon). I figured that since I would use the unit so infrequently (birthdays, etc.) I wouldn't use it enough to have the problems that were showing up after significant use by some of the other reviewers. Big mistake. This thing eats tapes like crazy and it now sitting on my desk gathering dust until I can find a use for a camcorder other than taping things. I didn't realize until reading the more recent reviews that the problem has something to do with the tape being near the end, but that fits my experience. It records well enough on one tape straight through, but if you stop/start a lot or even, dare I say it, "rewind", count on the tape getting chewed to pieces. Based on the number of reviews that say the same thing, i.e., the mechanism controlling the way the tape is fed over the head is defective, the product is defective and should be recalled. I wish us all lots of luck with that. Don't buy it, it's not worth the gamble, even at half the current listed price. I have no recommendations for a substitution, just read the reviews and discount any, good or bad, that sound like they were written by an excited person. (it's a camcorder for goodness sake, not the holy grail). This is my first and last product made by SHARP.
Rating:
Summary: Garbage after 10 tapes and being repaired
Review: I got this camera as a gift after the birth of our first child. I used it for about 8 months during which time we recorded 10 tapes. Every time we used a new high quality tape. Then one day the picture scrambled and I couldn't record anything. I contacted Sharp and they sent me to one of their repair centers where I paid a lot of money for service (parts were still under warranty). I was told the whole head assembly had to be replaced. Now after another 4 tapes the same thing has happened again. I wrote another email to the same Sharp customer service rep but she hasn't even bothered to answer my email. I suppose because the warranty has run out. I did get an email back from the service center offering to fix the camera again. Of course, they said it would be much more expensive because the warranty had run out. DON'T BUY THIS CAMERA. I won't ever buy another Sharp product.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA! While it would seem that some who have purchased this camera have been perfectly satisfied, there are too many of us who have experienced similar problems with this camera for me to think that my own bad experience was just a fluke. The high picture and sound quality that this camera seemed to yield at first deteriorated almost immediately to jagged, non-uniform, highly pixelated, lagging video, with broken, staticky sound. The poorness of my videos was very irregular, causing me to think that perhaps if I used different tapes, perhaps if I ran a head cleaner, perhaps if I used a different playback deck, etc., etc., I might end up being able to salvage the video I had recorded--or at least, avoid the same problems in the future. It should be noted that I had never used a digital video camera before, and had very limited experience with non-digital video. My lack of experience, combined with the irregularity of the poor quality of the videos I was shooting, caused me to think that it was me doing something wrong. By the time I called Sharp for service on this camera, the labor warranty had run out, and although replacement parts would still be covered, I would be responsible for a minimum labor charge of approx. $[$$]. I was angry and in no position to be able to pay this amount. Several months later, by the time I decided just to bite the bullet and do it, my parts warranty was also up, and it was going to cost me more to repair this camera (a defective drum, among other things, was the main culprit) than just to buy a replacement. My husband and I received this camera as a gift (I actually picked it out, thinking it was a good bargain) after the birth of our first child. It is heartbreaking for me to watch the broken-up video fragments that we ended up with over the course that time: first steps, first words, so many special times that we'll never get back, and none of the home movies that we had hoped for. Please, save yourself the heartbreak, and buy a better camera. If you decide to take the gamble, and you do buy this camera, BE ON THE LOOKOUT! At the first sign of problems, contact Sharp and demand that this camera be repaired. Be aware, though, that other customers have had this camera repaired, only to have the same problem crop up later. And eventually, your warranty will run out.
Rating: 
Summary: Good camera
Review: Year and a half old. Still works after 20 hours of use. Very slight pixillation at times on Fuji tape; obviously during recording stage. Less problem (almost none) using Panasonic tape. I tend to do repetitive edits in the camera while shooting; so it is probably "my fault." Good as DVD quality in good light. The still photos are only good for internet, not prints. Excellent purchase for [the money}, obviously the 'bad' cameras out there (and there are some) have received a disproportionate response here.
Rating:
Summary: Worked great for a year
Review: Bought it in Jan '03, never really used it much until the last 4-5 months as I began filming some autocrosses and car races. Got about 4 hours of tape recorded and then one day on the way to the biggest race of the year, all newly recorded video is scrambled. Playback is ok on previously recorded tapes, but no matter what, it will not record on any type of tape I use (Fuji, Sony, or Panasonic). Looks similar to what a satelite TV looks like when its loosing signal. And the highlight to this is it only comes with a one year warranty, so who knows how much its going to now cost me to fix it. I may just eat the cost and buy a different one. Image quality was decent, sound was great, never had a problem with jammed tapes, battery life [needs improvement], firewire capability was flawless, but the horrible reliability is just not worth it. I wish I had spent the extra money and bought something I could trust.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointed
Review: I bought it in Nov 2001. It has been used very little and already doesn't work. It won't record at all. I would like to send it back.
Rating:
Summary: Not Worth It!
Review: Bought this camcorder for Christmas 2001, just before the birth of my daughter. Almost immediately, a pixel went out on the LCD screen. Within two months, the tape got caught in the camera and I kept getting the message, "Eject the Cassette." I had to send the camera to a service center in upstate New York. I got it back a few weeks later. Worked for a little while, before receiving the message, "Eject the Cassette." I ran a head cleaner, but to no avail. I have never been able to use a full Mini DV tape without getting that message. I tried Mini DV tapes by Panasonic, Maxell, and Sony. None seem to work. The camera is way too unreliable. I've missed too many precious moments. Also, the quality of the video transferred to a VHS tape is very poor. Do yourself a huge favor and buy another camera. Not worth the trouble and the wasted money.
Rating:
Summary: I saw the warnings, ended up with broken camera like others
Review: Like many others, I was attracted to this video camera because of a very attractive price, in light of the options. I read all the dire warnings that many had problems, but like many times, was persuaded on price alone. It was a terrible mistake. The camera, less than one year after purchasing, broke. It broke during the birth of our second child. No images of this irreplaceable moment. I am so upset. Don't make my mistake. Don't shrug off our warnings. This camera is or will be nothing but trouble. I should have learned along time ago that you get what you pay for. I learned this lesson the hardest way you could.
Rating: 
Summary: My Sharp camera
Review: I originally got this camera to take pictures of my new baby. It has been really dependable and we have gotten some wonderful digitals of our baby. This is a great starter camera!
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