Rating: 
Summary: waiting forever for my camcorder could be repaired at shop
Review: I want to give zero star if it is allowed. This is a followup review I wrote about the camcorder. First one was posted in Decemebr or January.Like most other people who bought the camcorder because of the claimed rich features..., I ran into the problem after 30 days. The screen started to be full of stripes, colored or black/white after about 10 minutes of replaying. After talking to Sharp rep, I shipped it to an authroized repair shop in cleveland (I live in Chicago) paying the shipping costs myself in early February. I clled the shop last Friday and they told me that they're still waiting for the drum assemply part from Sharp. (I read that someone else wrote that his camcorder is waiting for a part as well.) And they told me that they last contacted Sharp on 2/25 and Sharp didn't tell them when the part is going to come. They haven't heard from Sharp since then. Another bad experience I had with Sharp product is with its boom box product. I bought a 3-DC changer box at Sam's Club and ended up returning in 2 weeks because CD didn't play occasionally. That's it for me with Sharp brand. I swear that I won't buy any Sharp in my life! If you're seriously thinking about buying any Sharp product, please read all the reviews on this board and ask people around about their experience, and then see if you still want to by it or not......If I had done so, it would have helped!
Rating: 
Summary: More fixes for pixelation problems
Review: As many previous reviewers have said, " I was worried about the camera based on the review, but for that price, I'll try it anyway." Well, I've had it several weeks now and at first it worked great. Last weekend, I taped about 40 minutes, played back the final few minutes and it looked great. Two days later, I taped for a minute or two and found that the replay had some serious pixelating. At that point, I tried to copy the previous 40 minutes of tape to VHS tape and found that as the tape went on the pixelation became worse. The only thing that I had done differently was leave the tape in the camera. So, I fast-forwarded to the end, then rewound the tape completely. I then replayed the 40 minute segment and the two minute segment and found that the video was perfect with no pixelation. Use good tape and be sure the tape is tight in the camera and it should give you excellent results. Good luck!!
Rating:
Summary: Possible fix for mentioned problems
Review: I was a little wary after having seen all the reviews--particularly those that mentioned the pixelation problems--but I decided to give it a try anyway...Can't beat the price, right? Sure enough, I was getting big time pixel problems on playback. However, those problems are now solved due to one (or perhaps both) of the solutions that I attempted. First, I threw away my first blank tape--a [poor] miniDV from [local store]. Second, I bought a dry head tape cleaner. Mind you, the camera did not TELL me that the heads were dirty, and I had only used it twice so I didn't THINK that the heads were dirty, but since then, I have had no problems. Obviously, this is not the fix for everyone, but it may be worth spending an extra few bucks to see if that is indeed the problem. Other than those two things, the camera has been a joy to use. I've just started editing via Firewire, and it is pretty darned cool.
Rating:
Summary: Buyer Beware!
Review: I wasn't going to write a review on this product - I just don't normally take the time to do this - but I feel I should warn potential buyers. As with many others, after very little use of this camcorder I have run into problems. I only briefly tested the product upon receipt & it seemed to work fine. A few weeks later I used the camera over Christmas & the "dirty head syndrome" began which rendered the camera completely inoperable. Unfortunately, this was about day 45 of my ownership of the camera & my Amazon return window had expired. I still have the one year parts & labor waranty but that involves dealing with Sharp directly. They instructed me to an authorized repair center in Cleveland (I live in St. Louis) in which I am responsible for shipping expenses both ways. Not happy, but thought I could deal with this. Today is February 26th & still no camcorder. The service center has had my camera since January 9th & has been waiting for a backordered part from Sharp (I guess they can't keep up with production of parts to handle all of the repairs!). I have spoken with Sharp several times & they have been of no further assistance while the service center can only wait for the backorder. No indication when the part will be available & I leave for Hawaii in 2 weeks. I guess we will not have video from this trip. Buyer Beware!
Rating: 
Summary: A great starter cam
Review: I haven't played around with this enough to really have a say, but its easy to use, the computer hook up's come with this, and the software is easy to use.
I am happy with the quality of the sound, picture, and features of this product.
Rating: 
Summary: You get what you pay for
Review: It was exciting when I read the tech. specifications, features and price of this camcorder. It is a little bit disappointing after I bought it. Basically I got wheat I paid for. 1. Image stabilization is probably the worst among all the digital camcorders. Thus, 26X optical zoom has little use unless you have extrememly hands like mine, or a tripod. 2. Digital still image is a joke. Original I thought I could use this one as a camcorder and an email-quality digital camera. Turned out, the quality of still pic. is extremely bad, not even for email quality. A digital camera with similar CCD Mega Pixel can produce much more crisp pictures. 3. Other features are rich. 4. The quality of pic. and sound is good. 5. an analog camcorder with CCD display probably would cost about the same. However, an anolog one has lower resolution, can not have digital still image and pic. stabilization features. I this sense, this would be a good buy. However, It is a waste of my money, because this is not what I was looking for. I'd rather to pay extra few hundreds bucks to get a better one. Conclusion: Comparing to an anolog camcorder that has the same price range, this is a very good buy. Comparing to other digital camcorders that fall into the same category, this is a poorly made product.
Rating:
Summary: I'm happy ......
Review: I bought this unit for my daughter DESPITE all of the negative postings here - people either seem to love this camera for the price and features, or, hate it for it's propensity for malfunction.
My daughter had been working on a number of video projects using her school's loaner unit (a professional or, at least, "semi-" professional grade Sony). She got hooked and asked for one for Xmas - my research on the web, manufacturer sites, shopping 'bots, reviews, etc. convinced me that this was not happening - I couldn't find a Mini DV for less than $... that had the features she would need (my dad had purchased a cheap ($...!) Panasonic last year and was sorely disappointed). A unit comparable to the Sony she had been using was over $....
Imagine my delight while browsing Amazon to stumble upon this unit for $... - before rebate!
Then, after reading the reviews about malfunctions I was less sanguine, but, having purchased many items from Amazon in the past I knew I could count on their customer service. So I bit the bullet, ordered the unit and it arrived (as promised) the day before Christmas - it worked flawlessly out of the box (I had to make a quick trip to ... for blank tapes and a Smartmedia Card).
I had to read the manual cover to cover to get the thing set up, but when Ruth opened it Christmas morning she looked over the controls for three seconds, started recording and has yet to even glance at the manual - yet understands and operates ALL of the functions (yeah, it's a good school). That camera has been in nearly constant use since then - in all climates (Cancun, Mexico - on the beach, upstate NY in the dead of winter, indoors, outdoors) and operates flawlessly.
She tranfers the images to the Mac at school for editing and has produced some very high quality work. We have yet to purchase a firewire card for her PC because my research indicates her PC setup is not optimum for video editing. I'm currently searching for a second hard drive (everybody recommends that DV be transferred to a drive separate from the drive running the editing software) and some more RAM. I'm hesitating to go that expense as she has access to the school's Mac for now and she's off to college in the fall and will need a laptop, and be retiring her PC. So, now I'm looking for a laptop with a firewire port - the Sony units seem to be the only ones with a built in firewire port.
In summary, after reading the reviews here, I would never have purchased this unit from another vendor, but fortunately Amazon DID have the lowest price. I would (and have) purchased items from Amazon even when they are NOT the lowest price, simply for the quality of their service. I'm happy with the unit - don't be dissuaded by the negative reviews - if the unit isn't "right", trust that Amazon will do the their best to correct the situation. Do NOT, however, purchase from another vendor without checking them out at ....
Rating:
Summary: Just a big headache!
Review: Sounds like it has a lot of features for the money. It would be great if it worked. After 15 minutes of filming, it says the heads need cleaned, it won't record and the 15 minutes I did manage to get playback at such an awful quality, it isn't worth watching. The 800 number for service is a joke and the nearest "authorized service center" is listed as 954 miles from me. You don't even get close to what you pay for with this one!
Rating:
Summary: Stay Away....JUNK!!
Review: [I have received] my second camera...The second camera lasted a bit longer than the first... about 30 minutes before the same issues came up (pixelation, lines, no sound). I went against my better judgement to purchase a brand such as Sharp and I have learned my lesson - back it goes.
Rating:
Summary: Caveat Emptor
Review: I bought this camera a while back, tried to convince myself I liked it for a week, finally returned it. The picture quality was fine when there weren't little pixelated ghosts running through it. Also, every time I did a basic slow sideways pan, I got a warbly, underwater kind of effect. I tried auto and manual focus, turning on and off the DIS, but the defects were clearly inherent. I don't know what to make of those reviewers who laud this camera--Perhaps they had better luck of the draw--but I'd say save your coffee money for two weeks and buy something a bit sturdier.
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