Be Wary of Sharp in general & DEW not buy this camera

Author's Rating:

Pros: Ergonomically great. Best features for the $$ a year ago.

Cons: Notorious for problems with a faulty dew sensor. Limited & expensive service availability.

The Bottom Line: 
Find another brand camera with better service availability. This product has notorious problems with faulty dew sensor, and they only have 5 service centers in the USA.

Author's Review
DEW not buy! Tech Support tells me that they have had multiple complaints about bad dew sensors which shut the camera down. Only 5 service centers in all of USA! If you decide you want to buy, then definitely consider buying an extended warranty!

I tried taking my camera to a local camcorder repair shop - they said SHARP is notoriously hard to deal with: If their techs have any question, it's tough to get a real person at Sharp live, and can take weeks before they get a return call. He said they hold a lot of their information and won't share it... you HAVE to use one of their certified repair shops to get any help (more on this below).


Full Review
I really loved my little sharp camcorder. It's ergonomically wonderful, lightweight, great for trips. Love the features, and would write more about them, but the bottom line is, you may want to try Sony - that according to the camcorder repair shop who said Sony is the best company for customer service, and very helpful to local service techs everywhere.

I've had MULTIPLE issues with DEW!!!

And believe me - it was a HUGE bummer to be trying to capture a magic moment on a trip to Disney World, only to have my camera automatically shut off due to dew!

OK - I understand that this is a self-protecting feature... however- my camera has now gone completely mad!

I've followed the instructions regarding dew: took the tape out, opened everything up, kept it in a warm, dry place. It says you should only need to do this for about an hour... I've done it for over three weeks - and it still won't let me record in a climate-controlled place.

So I called customer service.

The person on the other end of the phone said he gets these calls A LOT... and unfortunately, all they can do is send us to a Sharp certified service center... turns out there are only 5 in all of the USA - the one closest to me happens to be 900 miles away!

The customer service guy was really apologetic and said he wishes Sharp would at least give them some over-the-phone troubleshooting suggestions... but other than the "dry it out" technique - you have to bring it in to a service center!

The first service center I called told me that they charge a flat rate of $215!!! If they can repair it for the amount, they will, if it's more, they'll call me.

The other service centers were a little more reasonable:

I'm going to try mailing my camcorder to Quality TV - they charge $50 minimum tech fee, $20 return shipping/handling - I'll leave an update when I have one.

(Please note: I THINK I paid around $250... it was a competitive price - but it might have been more - it was a year ago and I don't really remember)