Sharp Aquos BD-HD21

[poppachubby]

My local surplus shop has a load of these in. They are refurbished. I will find out on Monday if they have been serviced by Sharp or a third party. If it's the latter, I'll pass.

If they have indeed been refurbished by Sharp, I would like to know what the concensus is on these machines. I don't have HD, but the thing that really speaks to me about this unit (aside from $110 tag) is that it has component outputs, which I am presently using with my DVD. It also uses optical for audio, which is a must for my set up. It also has an HDMI and USB port.

What's the USB port for? Firmware upgrades?

Anyhow, would love to hear your opinions. The unit is guaranteed for 14 days by the shop by means of exchange. After that I get 90 days manufacturer warranty, but that would mean shipping to Japan.

[pixelthis]

On my Sharp the USB is for a jumpdrive, which you need for BDLIVE(included).
I really like my Sharp but use it less and less.
I use on demand for rentals now, mostly.
2012 looked amazing on this player, BTW.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

My local surplus shop has a load of these in. They are refurbished. I will find out on Monday if they have been serviced by Sharp or a third party. If it's the latter, I'll pass.

If they have indeed been refurbished by Sharp, I would like to know what the concensus is on these machines. I don't have HD, but the thing that really speaks to me about this unit (aside from $110 tag) is that it has component outputs, which I am presently using with my DVD. It also uses optical for audio, which is a must for my set up. It also has an HDMI and USB port.

What's the USB port for? Firmware upgrades?

The USB port is for firmware upgrades only and supports memory sticks for that purpose. It is a profile 1.1 player(which explains the low price) which means all firmware upgrades have to be done by disc, not over the net. If you can burn your own disc(both CD and DVD) then you are okay.

Anyhow, would love to hear your opinions. The unit is guaranteed for 14 days by the shop by means of exchange. After that I get 90 days manufacturer warranty, but that would mean shipping to Japan.

I am going to be honest, I am not thrilled about Sharp products. They fall in the same performance category with LG products as far as I have seen. This is last years model and has been replaced by other players. So it appears they are trying to clear out inventory. Personally I do not trust Sharp products when they are new. But when they are refurbished, I trust them even less.