Sharp BDHP21U Blu Ray Player Review

50 Responses to “Sharp BDHP21U Blu Ray Player Review”

1. Anonymous says:

   February 26, 2009 at 4:25 pm

   A Very good and capable player !
   I got this player free with the Sharp LCD 52D85U TV. It worked right out of the box without any problems. The boot time is about 15 to 20 seconds but works perfectly all the time.

   I have even played old dvd’s and it plays them without problems.

   I also played around thirty Blu-ray DVDs from the Netflix and it played them all without any problems.

   The player is sensitive to the quality of the Blu-ray DVDs and hence if it stops or jerks then it is the faulty DVD and not the player.I once wiped the DVD with the cleaning solution and it started playing perfectly.

   Forget the more expensive Blu-ray players if you just want to watch movies without any online interactions as it does not support Blu-ray Live.

   For me the free player was the deal clincher as I did not want to shell out another 300 bucks for a Blu-ray Player

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2. catdug72 says:

   February 18, 2009 at 6:53 am

   Unreliable player
   Bought this player the day after Thankgiving, worked ok with the first few movies I played. But now, 3 months later, I have been having a lot of problems getting the player to work. It started with the movie “Ghost Town”; the player would only play the intro for the company that released the movie (Dreamworks). It was rented from Netflix, so I sent it back for a replacement thinking that the disc was defective. The second disc did the same thing. After searching the web, I found out that there was a software upgrade. Appently, there are some movies that this player will not play. After installing the upgrade, the next movie was “Eagle Eye”. It played for about the first fifteen minutes before the audio-video began cutting out, and could not longer watch the rest of the movie.

   Interestingly enough, with both movies, I played them in my Sony PS3 without any problems. I about ready to toss this player and go out an by a Sony player, something I should have done in the first place.

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3. Anonymous says:

   February 17, 2009 at 10:38 am

   Beware!
   I purchased a Sharp TV and the Blu Ray player was included as a promo. I strongly recommend you not purchase this player. I rented Invinsible and Dark Knight. It failed to play both. The latest firmware update did not help. Sharp customer support was polite but no help at all. On the upside, the TV is great and when you call customer support, it is easy to get a live person. I am going to purchase a Sony player. Live and learn!

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4. frenabee says:

   February 16, 2009 at 4:52 pm

   GREAT DVD player!! Works seamlessly with Sharp Aquos TV!
   I’m a 52 year old grandmother, not a “stealth advertiser” — whenever you are in doubt about a product’s reviews, click the “see all my reviews” link as “stealth advertisers” tend to review only ONE product that they want to malign or promote. If you find only ONE review for that ONE product, you might want to take that review with a “grain of salt.”

   We got this dvd player for free with our purchase of a Sharp Aquos 65 inch LCD TV in late January of 2009 — it’s a great dvd player. I don’t understand all the bad reviews for this player as ours plays all of our old regular dvds, along with every single new blu-ray dvd we’ve tried, including THE DARK KNIGHT, which I bought from Amazon, and every single blu-ray dvd that I’ve rented from Blockbuster and Netflix. It works seamlessly with our Sharp Aquos TV — I think they were made to work well together. When we pop a dvd in, it automatically switches the TV over to dvd viewing mode, which is a really nice feature. No fiddling with the remotes anymore! We really love it – it is our first blu-ray dvd player and we think its’ great!

   As an aside, last week we upgraded to HD cable and while the installer was checking out the remotes, he accidentally turned on the Sharp Aquos blu-ray player and the blu-ray Iron Man dvd which we had left in the player came on — my husband said the installer was simply blown away by the beautiful picture and said he hadn’t known Sharp made an Aquos blu-ray player! He was very impressed by the player and the picture!!

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5. flugenol says:

   February 16, 2009 at 10:44 am

   Will not play Dark Knight
   I’ve had this player since black friday. Its played all of my DVDs with no issue. However it is slow to boot and respond to input. Need to take brief naps while waiting for it to get ready I’m willing to live with that if it is reliable.

   Finally got Dark Knight on blu-ray, I’ve been saving this one till I got the blu ray and my Bravia and Onkyo surround all working. Well the Dark Knight initially started playing and I got some headers that splash before the movie starts, like the anti-piracy notice and the production company, but then it shows a disc reading animation with a spinning disc and it hangs there, won’t respond to anything and had to be powered off and on again. So I went to the Sharp web site and downloaded the new firmware from 2/4/2009 and installed it successfully. Now the Dark Knight disc says “Disc Load Error” when initially inserted. At least they’ve improved the error handling :^(

   Overall, the player worked great when watching “Iron Man” and “Goodfellas” on blu-ray, also upconverting on other DVDs was beautiful. But if they can’t get Dark Knight to work then this is a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT.

   Some of the reviews I’ve read here sound like there written by Sharp employees as stealth advertisements. Please put “Dark Knight” in your BDHP21U before posting any more fluffy glowing praise.

   BD-HP21U | BD-HP50U Firmware Version PN9012700

   http://www.sharpusa.com/products/TypeSoftware/0,1086,229,00.html

   Incidentally, the FW update initially failed but then I reformatted the USB drive and retried successfully.

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6. westlamichael says:

   February 11, 2009 at 3:06 am

   Won’t play many of my DVDs
   I have an extensive collection of DVDs that I accumulated over the years and want to be able to play on the same player as newer media. Most of these are not available on Blu-Ray and many are not available anymore at all. Since I have limited space for multiple components, and limited numbers of inputs to my TV and surround receiver, I want a single player that can handle all the above, as well as all my old CDs for audio.

   This unit consistently disappoints. About half of my DVDs won’t play, including several fairly new ones. Problems seem to occur across various DVDs, both old and new, both major and minor publishers. They all played on the ancient DVD player this thing is supposed to replace and they play fine on my computer. Sharp’s “support” was pretty adamant on this: Many DVDs won’t play and it’s a hardware issue, not something that can be fixed with firmware. I should keep my old DVD player for playing those disks.

   I have a better idea: Return this piece of garbage and buy another unit, one that actually takes the “DVD” logo on the box seriously. Sharp apparently feel that it’s just a decoration, not a real statement of compatibility. The DVD standard has been around for more than a decade and building a multi-format player that supports it should not be a challenge for any major manufacturer.

   Integration with my Aquos TV, which is part of the reason I bought this, is pretty irrelevant as far as I can tell. When I switch the TV to the HDMI input which has the player connected to it, the player turns on automatically. Big deal, my universal remote accomplishes the same already. I think “Aquos Link” offers some other utility in situaitons where the player is located away from the TV, but that’s not an issue for me. There isn’t any other obvious advantage I can see.

   Startup and initial read times for disks are incredibly slow compared to other players I’ve tried.

   Over time, the inability to play older formats like DVD may not matter. But we’re probably a good five years away from having everything available on Blu-Ray, so the DVD problems is a major one to me. Avoid at all costs.

   Frankly, given the crappy service and complete disregard for ensuring compatibility with the standards they claim to support, I have to say that Sharp has probably lost me as a customer permanently. Next TV will come from somebody else too.

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7. rinverso says:

   February 10, 2009 at 11:27 pm

   a really nice blue ray player. disregard other poor reviews
   unlike a few of the reviews i have read, this sharp aquos bd is great.i have tried many types of dvd and blue ray disc s in it without any problem. it loads as fast as any blue ray that ive seen. i believe the problem with the other reviewers is they used cheap hdmi cables. dont beleive that they are all the same. i spoke to a professional AV technician. and he told me of his experiances with hdmi cables, which can create problems on some discs and not others. you must use certified 1.3 hdmi cables. costco has a two pack of twelve footers for $48.00. if your trying upgrade your viewing experince and spend big bucks on blue ray and lcd tvs. why waste money on cheap cables that may or maynot cause problems.enjoy!!!

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8. surfcity007 says:

   February 9, 2009 at 4:12 pm

   Never received it. FedEx delivered to someone’s house.
   I called FedEx, but they provide no resolution. I contacted Amazon.com, the customer service credited me back the money within 2 days. Good service.

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9. Anonymous says:

   February 9, 2009 at 9:49 am

   Don’t expect it to play all DVDs, horrible support
   We got this Blu-ray player for Christmas. At the time, we also received Prince Caspian on Blu-ray and “Hana-Bi” on DVD. These were literally two of the first discs we tried to play, and neither worked. I contacted support and was told Prince Caspian was a known issue. I was told I would need to check the firmware update website for updates, although they had no idea when the release would be made. I was told my DVD issue could either be an issue with all players, in which case I should wait for the firmware update, or it could be an issue with my specific player. I was told the representative would speak with an engineer, and if this was an issue with my player I would be contacted for further support. If it was a firmware issue I should just wait for the next firmware release. After waiting a month, I used Sharp’s service feedback forum to ask the status of the update and to ask if I could subscribe to an update announcement (I had just unsubscribed from Sharp’s sales newsletter). The representative asked me for my model and serial number, and promised to give me their best support. I responded with that information and never heard from that representative again. Finally, they released the firmware update that allowed my Prince Caspian Blu-ray to play. However, Hana-Bi still did not play. When I contacted Sharp support, they told me that firmware updates can not address standard definition DVD issues! Moreover, Sharp can not support “every DVD.” This was confirmed by a customer service manager.

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10. Anonymous says:

    February 8, 2009 at 3:08 am

    I like it
    It’s a good player but start up is a little slow it takes too long to load the movie. But when it’s set to quick start it’s okay. picture is super clear even on my 52″ LCD. I didn’t want to wait till the next generation came out so I got this one. I don’t think I’d use BD Live anyway.

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11. Anonymous says:

    February 5, 2009 at 11:38 pm

    Great player at an afforable price!
    I purchased this about 2 months ago and am glad I purchased this over Sharps more expensive model. I haven’t had any problems with it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a HD Blu-Ray player. I have found it easy to use and fast responding.

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12. Anonymous says:

    February 3, 2009 at 4:29 pm

    Avoid this player at all costs
    While the player may have decent quality at a decent price point, this player currently will not play Prince Caspian or the X-Files movie on Blu-ray. Sharp is aware of this issue and have been since early December and yet have done nothing about it. These discs play on every other player on the market as real Blu-ray player companies (Sony, Samsung, Panasonic) release updates within DAYS of issues occurring. It has been nearly two months now for Sharp and they still haven’t released any new updates. If this is how they continue to support this player expect even more headaches and more discs not playing in the future. If you want a player that plays Blu-ray discs that came out a year ago get this one. If you want a player that is supported by the manufacture and plays new Blu-ray discs, stay away from this door stop!

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13. Anonymous says:

    February 3, 2009 at 9:15 am

    slow power up, slow open, slow going
    When you push power, it takes over a minute to turn on. I’ve already had one blu-ray movie not work and we had to return to Blockbuster. Overall, once the movie gets started, it’s a beautiful picture, but this player requires a little patience. It was free with my Sharp HDTV, so I shouldn’t complain.

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14. mrehere says:

    February 2, 2009 at 4:42 am

    Perfect match for your Sharp Aquos TV!
    I received this player because I put it on my Amazon wishlist for Christmas. I was not disappointed! Setting up the player, using a (not included) HDMI cable, to my Sharp Aquos LCD flat panel took 2 minutes. No special configuration was needed. The picture and audio quality are second to none in my opinion. I have the audio connected to my Sony ReceiverSony STR-DG810 6.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver via fiber optic cable. I highly recommend this player if you own a Sharp Aquos TV.

    Only downside I can mention is that it does not support BD-LIVE, if that is important to you.

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15. Anonymous says:

    January 31, 2009 at 4:12 pm

    Won’t play newer Disney movies
    UPDATE: A firmware update came out a couple of days after this review. It plays Prince Caspian now. I’d still give it three stars. IT still has the DVD hang-up problem, and other brands are faster on their firmware updates, have BD-Live, and have better remotes than this one; all for about $200. Original review follows:

    I got this player on Black Friday 2008 for 250 with a fifty dollar rebate. I was ripped off. I purchased Prince Caspian a couple of weeks later. Prince Caspian won’t play, and through some research, I’ve found other titles that won’t play either. It also freezes on some standard DVDs during the transition layer, blanking the screen for several seconds, and alternating between the blank screen and juttered video. It can take up to 40 seconds to finish this dance, and sometimes requires a reboot. The remote will only operate a Sharp TV (unlike the remote for the same-priced priced BD-Live capable Panasonic BD-35K, which can operate other TV brands as well as volume on my Yamaha surround receiver). I contacted Sharp Tech support in early December regarding the technical issues, and they said they were aware, and to check back regularly for a new firmware update. I check daily, and as of today, it is still an issue.
    
    My girlfriend has it now, and is just happy to have Blu-ray capability. But if you have the money to spend on this player, buy the Panasonic instead. I’ve not had one issue with it. I gave this one 2 stars because it actually does play most Blu-ray titles, and is big enough to be a TV stand.

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16. jwangamazon says:

    January 31, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    Too bad, the latest firmware fix is not released yet.
    I returned my Sylvania NB500SL9 blu-ray player after I got this Sharp BDHP21U blu-ray player as a gift from my stock broker TD Ameritrade. My set-up has a Sharp LC52D85U 52-Inch HDTV and a Panasonic SC-PT960 Home theater system. Here are my assessments:

    Pro:
    
    1. Send out 1080p24 video automatically when it detects the HDTV is 1080p24 capable. The 1080p24 is better than 1080p60.
    
    2. For the blu-ray disks that the player can work with, the video output is great.
    
    3. Up-convert regular DVD to 1080p and the video quality is good.
    
    4. Overall, setup is easy….pretty much plug-and-play.
    
    5. Firmware update is also easy. The latest firmware (11/06/2008) is easily found in Sharp’s web site.

    Con:
    
    1. To my knowledge, most of blu-ray players are slow in responding the remote control. This sharp blu-ray player is slow also.
    
    2. Here is the biggest flaw. This Sharp blu-ray player has problem with some of the latest blu-ray disks. Like feedbacks from other reviews, this player failed to play the Prince Caspian (confirmed). And the firmware fix is not yet available from Sharp at this point.
    
    3. Come on! how come the HDMI cable is not included.

    Overall, this Sharp blu-ray player is about the same performance like the entry-level Sylvania NB500SL9 blu-ray player (because Sylvania NB500SL9 blu-ray player also has problem with some blu-ray disks).

    In summary, this Sharp BDHP21U blu-ray player is an entry level blu-ray player. I don’t have too much to complain as I got this one for free. However, if I need to spend moeny, then I would go with Sylvania NB500SL9 as it has better value than Sharp. I give this Sharp player 3 starts as it can not play some of the latest blu-ray disks.

    ***** Update *****
    
    News: Sharp release the latest firmware on 2/4/2009 as following:
    
    “Firmware update file and installation instructions.
    
    This Firmware Update improves playback of Walt Disney BD movie titles such as “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” as well as improving the load time of 20th Century Fox BD movie titles such as “X-Files: I Want to Believe.”

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17. scottkarb says:

    January 27, 2009 at 6:37 pm

    Does not play many disks
    This player does not play many disks. Got the Firefly series on blu ray. opened it brand new and it will play the first 2 disks every time but will not play the third disk at all. Says incompatible or some such message. Takes several minutes to load up the disks it does happen to play when it feels like behaving. Nothing like paying good money for a blu ray player that won’t play many blu ray disks. Avoid this one at all costs.

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18. mesper says:

    January 27, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    Great Blu ray Player!
    Incredible blu-ray picture and upscales regular DVDs to near HD. Played all my blurays without any problems. Why spend a lot more money for one of those other brands?

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19. beantown42 says:

    January 27, 2009 at 4:52 am

    Best free blu-ray I ever got.
    I really love the bluray picture this BD player produces. But I did find it didn’t play Prince Caspian however, Wall-E played just fine. Setup was a breeze and I don’t find the 30 second load time annoying at all. I’ve been able to play all the bluray disk I’ve put in this BD player except the one mentioned above. Again the picture on my Sharp LCD is crystal clear and I really like seeing 1080p and 24Hz displayed on my LCD. I highly recommend this BD play.

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20. Anonymous says:

    January 26, 2009 at 11:05 am

    Outstanding Blue-Ray DVD Player
    The Sharp Aquos BDHP21U 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player I purchased at the beginning of January 2009 is outstanding. Easy to install and use, with a wonderfully clear picture. Highly recommended.

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21. leojamm says:

    January 24, 2009 at 4:16 pm

    Sharp Aquos BDHP21U
    The only problem I have with this unit is that it is not internet-ready. Updates have to be done by USB. That is why I gave it a 3 star rating. This is a very good entry level BluRay player.

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22. electricalscience says:

    January 24, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    A big disappointment
    The Sharp BD-HP21U Blu-ray player does not play many recent disks, including “Prince Caspian” and “X-Files”. According to Disney: this is the ONLY player which does not play Prince Caspian. According to Sharp: a new firmware update is in the works, but no new version was available as of this writing (1/24/09).

    In addition, even when the player worked, it was annoyingly slow to respond to key presses. When playing an older (non Blu-ray) DVD, the fastforward/reverse was jumpy (similar to the early DVD players). The unit is unusually deep (and barely fit into my cabinet).

    I bought this player because I have a new Sharp LCD TV (which I love), and I thought that the Sharp Blu-ray player would integrate nicely. No such luck.

    I returned mine.

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23. Anonymous says:

    January 23, 2009 at 7:48 pm

    Piece of Junk
    Do not buy!!! This blue ray player does not play the latest blue-ray movies like Prince Caspian or Wall-E. It has been months since those discs were released and still no update from Sharp that plays them. According to the internet forums the SHARP customer service technicians are reporting that they can’t update the player to support the newest movies. I will be returning mine tomorrow.

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24. Anonymous says:

    January 23, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    AVOID THIS PLAYER
    This player only plays select Blu Ray discs. And the ones that do work, only work once in awhile! And guess what? If you want to fix the problem, you’re going to have to wait until Sharp posts a download on their website for the problem which could take months!

    I don’t know about anyone else, but I imagine a blu ray player as something you put a movie into and just watch… maybe because that’s how every other blu ray player I’ve seen works? I never expected to have to put so much effort into downloading patches and waiting god knows how long for new ones while my movies sit around that I payed $30 for. I refuse to do this, and will be returning this product.

    Do a search for some more reviews on this product, and you’ll find MANY people cannot watch movies on this player.

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25. getagoose says:

    January 19, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    Blu-heaven
    Although I had planned to replace our old DVD-VCR combo player with a new one with the upconvert feature (see my review of the Sharp LC46D65U), I decided instead to test the full potential of our new 46-inch HDTV by adding the Sharp blu-ray player while it was on sale over Boxing Week. Great decision! In fact, after watching a few blu-rays and many upconverted DVDs over the past month, I couldn’t be happier. Well, except for the side effect of finding that my huge pile of VHS tapes was no longer up to snuff and had to be replaced with DVD versions. It took less than a week for our eyes and ears to adjust to the higher quality of upconverted DVDs and blu-rays to become HD snobs. As a few folks have quickly — and sadly — figured out, not all new blu-ray discs will play on this machine, even with the latest firmware installed. (Note: This firmware glitch applies to almost ALL blu-ray players.) I was burned on the latest Wall-E movie which played all the movie previews nicely but wouldn’t display the actual film. That, and a brand new DVD out of the package, were the only movies out of several dozen that gave us any trouble, however. For that I dock the machine (actually Sharp) 1 star. Sharp needs to get on the ball and update firmware faster. We don’t use the quick load feature because the machine runs constantly on standby if you do. You really don’t need it. Quite frankly, if you haven’t got the patience to wait a minute or two for the player to warm up and load, why bother to watch a 2 hr movie at all? Relax and enjoy! Overall, this is a great machine — especially if you picked it up on sale with a big Sharp LCD TV. I LOVE the AQUOS ADVANTAGE!!! Update on the Sharp LC46D65U: Still give it five stars — lovely picture and the sound quality with the 15W speakers is more than acceptable, especially for us old fogies who haven’t been spoiled with a full ($$$$) sound system.

    Last tip: If you’re watching your Sharp 46-inch LCD HDTV from 10 to 12 feet away, an upconverted DVD is almost blu-ray quality (which is why I’m stocking up on cheap eBay DVDs at the moment). Close in, say, 8 feet or less, the pixelation is much more obvious and bothersome and blu-ray is then the “crystal clear” winner.

    EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!
    
    UPDATE: NEW FIRMWARE UPDATE has just been put online and will wipe out most of the whiners and their 1 star reviews … After complaining to the Aquos Advantage help phone line a few weeks ago about not being able to watch my blu-ray WALL-e movie, I was placed on their update list and immediately phoned when the online update became available (yesterday). Can’t beat that kind of service!! I now give both Sharp and the machine 5 stars!

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Now you can enjoy the best of 1080p video on your AQUOS® LCD TV. Especially designed to work with AQUOS LCD TVs, the BD-HP21U AQUOS Blue-ray DiscTM Player provides seamless operability via the AQUOS LINKTM function through the HDMITM connection. Performing as if it were all one system, the BD-HP21Us Quick Start feature lets you enjoy gorgeous Blu-ray Disc® video with the touch of a button in as little as 10 seconds. With HDMITM outputs and 1080p as well as DVD up-conversion, youll enjoy full digital high-definition video and high-fidelity audio. JPEG Digital images can be viewed as a slide show from recorded CD-RW/R with digital images.

• Sharp BDHP21U Blu-ray Disc Player
• Full HD 1080p/24 fps video output
• HDMI digital Interface
• 7.1 Ch digital audio output
• Quick Start Mode: enjoy content quickly without delay

Dimensions

• Height: 0''
• Length: 0''
• Width: 0''
• Weight: 0 lbs