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At first, everything was great. The movie freezes on you, and you start hearing the disc spin.and spin.and spin. At first, from power-on to movie start was only 1-2 minutes; now, it takes AT LEAST five minutes before the disc even starts playing the intro screens (which doesn't include the time it takes to recognize whether it's a DVD or BD, which can take equally as long). Hit the power button to turn it off, and nothing happens. However, as time has passed, and firmware versions upgraded, this player has gone from being a good purchase to one of the biggest electronics regrets we've had (aside from also purchasing HD-DVD players). Where to start.where every electronic starts, with the power button. Bottom line up front: if you're looking for a new BD player, you're probably not even considering this one since it's way out of date; this review is more of a rant/vent for me.We bought this BD-DVD player in 2008, when Blu-ray players were still fairly expensive, because 1) it had fairly good reviews (at the time) and 2) Best Buy was having a "Buy a BD player, get 10 movies free" deal (and the PS3 wasn't included). Hit the eject button to see if MAYBE there's a scratch on the disc, and nothing happens.
There is no ethernet port on this player, so any BD-Live enabled movie (if you're into that) is wasted on this one. Hit the forward button to maybe advance past the skip, but nothing happens. Firmware updates have to be done through a USB flash drive, as far as I know; that's how I've always done it. Finally, when you can hit play, get ready to wait even more. The picture quality was great, movies loaded quickly, and the only complaint that we had with it was the sound through the TV was too low (probably more on the TV than the player though). Then, hopefully the plugs in an easily accessible location so you can unplug it.
Once you get past those, and finally get to the menu, moving between the menu options is slow and sluggish. By the time the movie finally starts playing, you're more frustrated than excited to watch.and then, it happens. Once that's done, more waiting, while the system initiates and goes through what I'll call it's start-up process (which takes a fair amount of time).All that aside, this player is extremely outdated. I've never received an update DVD from Sharp (unlike with my Toshiba HD-DVD player, which I was still getting firmware update DVD's WAY after they discontinued production), so I don't know if you can even request one.All in all, avoid this player.it will save you from lots of frustrating moments.
Sharps website for firmware updates on mode BD-HP20 is a dead link. I bought this item when it was $499. Sometimes machine gets stuck on standbye and wont start. A piece of worthless garbage. I never should have "DOWNGRADED" to blue ray. Sometimes it wont eject.
Dont throw your money away. I've been waiting months for firmware updates. They dont answer emails for support. Sometimes it wont play movies. And almost always freezes in the middle of movies. This is the lowest piece of crap I've ever owned.
Never had these problems on a regular DVD player.
- these problems (incompatible disc error and rejection of the Blue Ray) are incredibly common. BUYER BEWARE. We ended up sending ours to an authorized repair shop. to replace our perfectly functional FREE DVD player. P.s. Sharp tech support is WORTHLESS. Google "BDHP20U problems" and see how many forums pop up.
You email, they return your email saying you need to call tech support. You call tech support and you get one of two responses 1) please pay to send your player to an authorized repair shop or 2) we are no longer making updates or servicing these players" Either way, you're out of luck. This is BY FAR the worst blue ray player on the market. Now the player won't play new blue rays (Generation Kill series) OR the older blue rays that it ONCE DID play (Batman Begins). So now we have a useless, expensive, DVD player. Do not waste your time, hard-earned money, or frustration on this horrible horrible blue ray player. Don't know the details on that, but it tells you the size of the problem. Additionally, it is my understanding that a class action lawsuit is being pursued against Sharp for defrauding customers with this blue ray player.
Don't believe me. I counted 76 people on the last forum I trudged through looking for answers, that had the EXACT same issue and responses from Sharp Tech Support. Came back still broken, having the exact same problems, with a note saying all the Blue Rays they tried (including our "Wanted" which still will not play in the player) worked fine. We stopped buying blue rays and waited almost a year, hoping Sharp would put out another firmware update (update #2 for us) and finally, 18 months after the first update was put out (which did NOT fix our problem with being unable to play Blue Rays) they put update #2 out. I will NEVER buy a Sharp product again. Don't waste your time with this player.
A quick scan of the latest reviews has 1 star after 1 star after 1 star. I purchased this Blu-Ray player right at the fall of HD-DVD and I was initially quite excited with my purchase (though I do believe that the HD-DVD format was better. very insightful). I've tried everything.* Takes forever to load and play (perhaps this was corrected on the BP-HP20U model vs. For all the reviews this thing has received it's interesting to note that it's only 3 stars. At the end of the day though, I believe that there are far more superior products out there than what Sharp is turning out here. some of us had to own Betamax right).
Rather than write a long diatribe I'll simply sum up what I like and dislike about this unit in bullet form below and then close out with final thoughts. Hopefully this will be as helpful as the person who's been providing the multi-year updates to his review (awesome job by the way. This is a review for the Sharp BD-HP20 (not the 20U though I'm sure they're closely related). This isn't abnormal, but this DVD player lacks an ethernet port, so you'll be doing it via USB - when it works.* Seems to regularly fail to recognize USB drives (Mac or PC) when trying to update the firmware. This is why I hate this machine as it happened to me and I'm now stuck with a machine that has software from 2007. mine) In all, I'd recommend that you chose another brand. I can't even pawn it off on my parents since it doesn't consistently work.Sorry Sharp. I'm very disappointed with mine and now feel like I've got a mult-hundred dollar paperweight on my hands.
but hey. This isn't random. So, without further adieu:LIKES:* Great asthetics, especially compared to other brands (love the blue "o" on the front when a disk is in)* Great picture - when it works. Blu-Ray really is amazing to see on a good TV/Monitor* Great sound quality - when it works.DISLIKES:* Does not play all Blu-Ray DVDs and requires constant updates for the firmware to do so. You'd be spending $200+ for a machine that does less than a $150+ machine, and requires all firmware updates via USB as opposed to over the internet. better luck next time.-A
This is by far the worst Blu Ray player I have ever used. So much for years of entertainment as the manufacturer states. It plays maybe 30% of my collection and maybe 10% of the newer movies even with the "Firmware update". What a joke. When it does play, the load time is rediculous. I'll stick to my PS3.
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