Sharp DV-HR300U Progressive Scan DVD Player with 80 GB Hard Drive Recorder

Rating:
Summary: It's a keeper
Review: I purchased this recorder to transfer recorded materials on 100s of VHS tapes, and I've already burned 3 DVDs and recorded 5+ hours on HD after I received this gem a couple of days ago. I decided to get this based on the other reviews I read on various sites, they were very positive so I had a good feeling... and these reviewers were right! After returning two other DVD recorders, I finally found what I was looking for. I'm not sure why the previous reviewer is having trouble recording from external source such as VHS tapes, I'm connecting through front input (L3) and specified audio settings as indicated in the manual (select DUAL MONO REC mode instead of STEREO when recording from external source), and successfully recorded directly to DVD as well as to HD. I like recording to HD from VHS first at FINE mode since I can dub selected items from HD to DVD in any order I like after editing these clips without losing quality. So I'm using the HD as my digital video scratch pad. I also recorded from my cable channels, it's great to be able to record stuff when I'm in shower and later edit out the parts I don't need. After I burned two old blank DVD disks that I had, I went out and got 25 more DVD disks and noticed some warning on the label about possible damage to the recorder with this 4X DVD disk format!!! But as it turned out, unlike some Pioneer models, it's compatible with 4X disks so I didn't have to get the firmware updates in order to use these 4X disks. I love this recorder!

Rating:
Summary: Not a Bad Value...If It Works
Review: I seldom purchase extended warranty options for items under $1,000, but I did on this one. Register it online and Sharp will prompt you with an extended warranty offer. Hm; wonder if they know something? If you buy the HR300U, part with the extra $40 for a year's extended warranty. You may need it.

I bought mine May 20, 2004. Happily recorded shows--mainly sporting events--to the hard drive, then dubbed them onto DVD. Worked great for about four months...and the original factory warranty is 90-days parts, 12 months labor. It still records to the HD like a champ, but after creating about 35 DVDs, that was all she wrote...literally. It won't dub a thing to DVD, presents a generic "an error has occurred" message that isn't documented, and the best Sharp customer service could suggest was to clean the laser lens. I don't even use this machine for DVD playback; I have an upsampling Samsung for that. So the unit has had very little actual DVD-in-drive time and, of course, cleaning the lens did nothing. Three different brands of blank DVDs and about a dozen in the trash now following failed recording, and my only option is to package the unit up and ship it off for "repair." Of course, I have about 20 hours of can't-be-replaced material on the hard drive that I can't move to DVD, and I'm not confident that will survive the shipping and repair.

Out of all the electronics purchases I've made the past three years, this is absolutely the one I regret.

Rating:
Summary: Good experience with the unit I bought
Review: I was looking for following abilities:
-record DVDs from cable, VCR, camcorder, Tivo
-play MP3 CDs
-Play DVD+R (although it may not record to it, since my computer does +R)
-some basic editing ability (which made Hard Disk a necessary feature)

After reading lot of reviews on the web and comparing to other DVR models, I zeroed onto this model and bought it recently.
So far I am happy with the model after burning a number of DVDs and would recommend to others with similar requirements. I looked at Panasonic and don't like the fact they don't support playing +R DVDs. The editing features are limited but work OK for basic stuff. I was not one of the lucky ones who bought it at $379 but still at the current price it seems like a good tradeoff compared to others if one compared the features.

Rating:
Summary: Be warned
Review: I'm about to send this back to the factory a second time for repair.It's not recording again like it did a few weeks after purchase.I got this in June 2004 and it's a piece of junk. Another annoying thing is there's only one place to get thing repaired,in IL. So more money thrown away getting it there. More time wasted instead of shows recorded.Also it's VERY user UNFRIENDLY and impossible to transfer your personal video tapes to dvd.The instruction book is the worst. I work with electronics and computers and know how to do technical things and this thing confuses me. Do not waste your money...

update:
Since this review I've contacted Sharp and they are paying to ship the unit back to them for repair or possible replacement (hopefully replacement!). I will update this review after I see what they do...

10/27/04: The machine was just returned to me. NO repair work was done on it because they tested it and could not get it to
fail as it has for me.Great,what a wonderful thing.I tell them how it has failed for me but they repair NOTHING. I will never buy ANYTHING from Sharp ever again.

When the HDD fails,nothing is recorded.Personally If I set it to record a show,I'd like to depend on this machine,but it is NOT dependable and I can't count on seeing whatever show I wanna see,BAD machine
01/04/05 the piece of junk is back in the shop again,do NOT buy SHARP products
01/17/05 fedex brings the recorder back to me.
01/19/05 recorder fails to record program,the endless problem continues
01/20/05 fedex picks up "recorder" to go to the Sharp company again for "repair"

Rating:
Summary: I wouldn't give it up, but it has it's flaws
Review: I've been using this baby for a few weeks, and it's a great step up from VCR's with one exception. A few times I've missed the thing I wanted to record because there was a "Disc Error". That's only happened 3 or 4 times. That isn't too bad when I reflect that I record with it almost every day. It isn't something I would even try to get repaired. It isn't that annoying. See how tolerant I am?

It does seem to me that's it's a little too complicated to be a big seller. The response to remote control commands is sluggish, and that seems like a step backward from everything we're used to seeing on a video monitor. Menus are a little complicated and a bit hard to navigate sometimes.

No doubt all these minor flaws will be fixed with the next generation of the machines. Just be aware that this isn't perfect, and enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Buy this!
Review: Out-of-the-box, this thing ROCKS! I own the Panasonic 50" LCD projection HDTV (Model #PT-50LC13) and this DVR is the perfect compliment! The universal remote set up easily and the built-in tuner has greatly enhanced viewing of NTSC channels. I would imagine that the "experience" will only improve once satellite gets installed this weekend. The features work as advertised and Amazon's price is the best by far, when shipping costs are included. At the risk of sounding to be a shill, as with all purchases with Amazon.com, I am 100% satisfied.

Rating:
Summary: Buy this!
Review: Out-of-the-box, this thing ROCKS! I own the Panasonic 50" LCD projection HDTV (Model #PT-50LC13) and this DVR is the perfect compliment! The universal remote set up easily and the built-in tuner has greatly enhanced viewing of NTSC channels. I would imagine that the "experience" will only improve once satellite gets installed this weekend. The features work as advertised and Amazon's price is the best by far, when shipping costs are included. At the risk of sounding to be a shill, as with all purchases with Amazon.com, I am 100% satisfied.

Rating:
Summary: Great machine but.....
Review: 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.