I awoke one morning after the recent birth of our son and thought, "we need a treat and it's time for a big TV". Like many others I suspect, I hadn't a clue where to start other than knowing that I wanted a 40" flat screen, probably LCD rather than plasma and that was it. A friend of ours bought a 46" 40W2000 last year and I knew he would have done exhaustive research so I asked him for his opinion - which was one of absolute contentment (although he did hint that if he had his time again he might go for one of the new Samsungs - still haven't found out why but when I questioned him more and said I really couldn't be bothered with doing research myself so should I go for the Sony or not - he said YES).

The question was then which one to buy - the 40w3000, 40w2000 which is last year's model and can still be found for £899 at Comet, or upgrade totally to the 40x3500. I decided on the 40w3000 for the following simple reasons:

- For us spending £1k on a tv is enough - I really couldn't justify another £1k for the X series even if I could have understood what the main differences were
- the 40w2000 is meant to be an outstanding TV (and I've seen the 46" in action - it's top notch), but for an extra £100 I was getting a newer version so it was a no brainer
- I read so many online reviews from tech sites, to lads mags and national press reviews and all concurred that I couldn't go far wrong with 40w3000 (or any of the others)
- I've always liked the idea of having a Sony Bravia - sold on the advertising I guess, but after years with Philips I also fancied a change of brand
- and last but not least, it was an easy choice because of the great price on Amazon

So, I read the reviews on here and decided to purchase. Two days ago it was delivered (more on that later) and since then it's been TV FRENZY!!! It's an absolute stunner. If you know loads about TVs then you might find fault with blackscreen or backlights or somethingo or other, but I'm just comparing it to what we had before and it's brilliant. We've got a regular DVD player and VHS and they both work fine - the quality of DVDs is superb - our first movie was Bladerunner and it was awesome; and watching Disney films with the family is a whole new experience - especially when the picture quality is turned to Vivid.

The sound is really good and better that I expected given I haven't got a surround sound system (but I think it will be coming my way soon). Menus are easy to navigate and the auto set-up meant I was watching TV within 30 mins of opening the box. I know others have found it difficult and I may well need assitance once I have more gadgets and wires to plug in, but I didn't find setting it up a problem - very easy indeed if you're used to fitting plugs into a basic pc and tv and the remote is very easy to navigate as well.

So far, no problems whatsoever - an absolute dream of a purchase and would heartily recommend it to anyone.

As for Amazon - great service, stunning price and I trust them. I would say though that it was disappointing to order their 'great price' stand only to find out they couldn't find one - end result is I've bought a stand from another retailer - John Lewis - and it's not being delivered until 5 days after the TV. A pain but not life threatening.

The courier service was also fairly random - the courier didn't call to arrange a delivery time - luckily I called them to check they had the right numbers otherwise I would never have known it was coming a day earlier than estimated. They then couldn't deliver so had to come back the next day and still not tell me a time. As I said to Amazon, if I've just spent £1k on a TV I'd be willing to spend a bit more to get a guaranteed delivery, with a courier firm which called me, and more quickly (please).

When all is said and done - there might be better TVs out there and if I'd spent a few days researching this and that I might have gone for something else - but right now, I'm really pleased I didn't. Right, got to go, I'm off to watch Band of Brothers box set. Yippee.