My television of 16 years was starting to become rather unpredictable. The on/off switch had already broken – so much so I'd had to cover it with sellotape to make sure I didn't feel tempted to try to turn the television off using it. If I had been daft enough to try to switch my television off I knew I'd never get it switched back on again, so I always had to leave it on standby. Then, to make matters worse, my tv had started to take increasingly longer to warm up and show a picture – by the time I had decided enough was enough, it was taking 10 minutes to warm up, it was driving me mad!!! I was definitely stuck in the dark ages of television and I finally had an excuse to break free.

I chose a 28-inch widescreen model. My previous screen was a 26-inch traditional format and as I don't like the modern television stands that come with the televisions these days, I wanted to keep my existing television stand and basically anything bigger than 28 inch would just be too big. Also, I didn't want the television to completely dominate the room.

I have to say this is the hard choice. I looked at the latest Which report which suggested a Panasonic model. However, I had heard that Sony had a very good name on the TV front so I decided to have a look at a couple of Sony models which were recommended on the Comet website. All other televisions were dismissed – I didn't have time to look at everything!!! I did ask the independent retailer I visited about other manufacturers but he said that he thought Panasonic and Sony were the best and most reliable manufacturers anyway. I had also looked at a couple of ops from very knowledgeable people on Ciao, and Sony seems to be particularly well favoured.

The model I preferred was the model I eventually purchased. However, it wasn't until I was in John Lewis and looking at my three model choices side by side that I knew that for certain. In addition the price in John Lewis was so good that I couldn't turn the bargain down!

I paid £797 including a DVD player SONY DVP-NS 305. In the Sony shop this television was retailing for £926 plus an extra £74 for the DVD player. The price I did pay was the equivalent to an internet price NOT INCLUDING a DVD player, so I got a real bargain. Plus John Lewis include as standard on all televisions a 5 year guarantee (which would cost £250 from the Sony shop). I have noticed that you can now buy this television on the internet for £679 from Krish audio-visual (minus the DVD), but I'm very pleased with my purchases from John Lewis.

The hardest task was getting it out of the box to be honest! It is definitely a two person job, so be warned! The outside of the box explains the complicated manoeuvres of opening one side, turning it over, opening the other side, turning it back over, etc, etc, etc., all very gently so as not to break the television, if you're any good at playing "Twister", I'm sure you'd be a natural at this task! Seriously, this television weighs in at 47kg so if you've got a bad back, ask the shop to provide set up as well as delivery. Eventually, you can lift off the box and protective cardboard and then carry your television to your desired location in the room. The television size is 785mm x 515mm x 525mm, so make sure you have enough space to move your television around to your desired location.

The television has Virtual Dolby + BBE Digital. Apparently virtual dolby enhances the soundtrack - it provides surround sound with just the speakers on the television - sounds like a tall order to me. But, I have to say the sound on this television is incredible. When I watch a television programme I hear these background noises that I'd never heard before, and in fact I found it a bit disconcerting to start with. As with all televisions, put on a DVD and you can see the TV taking coming into its own. The sound quality is very clear and can be summed up as superb, I feel like I'm at the cinema at times.

This television is a flatscreen (meaning less reflection) and widescreen, so I finally get to see the bits of films that had been chopped off! In addition the frequency is 100Hz digital plus. What that means in technical jargon I don't know, but I do know it helps to reduce the flicker. Apparently, when camera shots were moving quickly a lower frequency meant some flicker and not a smooth transition between shots. This frequency creates an almost flicker free experience, so in other words, a very clear picture. There is a button on the remote which allows you to toggle between different picture sizes - 16:9, Smart, Zoom, 4:3, Wide. I generally just leave it on Smart though.

There are three scart sockets including one S-video. Scart leads were completely beyond me until I bought this television, but apparently they've been around for a number of years. I have managed to fill up all three sockets with connections to my VCR, DVD and Digital box. Apparently they provide a clearer connection than the old cables. Not having scart sockets on my old television, I have nothing to compare this to, and take their word for it, but I do know I have excellent picture and sound quality when using the VCR, DVD and Digital box so they work a treat!

For Miss Gadget this is a huge bonus. If you would like to watch 2 channels for some reason (or watch a video or DVD and want to keep an eye on another channel). Well, this feature allows you to do this. Tune into a channel, hit the PinP button on the remote and then select your alternative (Video, DVD or Digital/Cable/Satellite). Note that if you want to look at two TV channels, then the second channel needs to be viewed either through your digital/cable/satellite tuner or your VCR tuner as the television itself only has one tuner). When you have completed this, you will find a small picture located in one of the four quarters of the screen (you can select through the menu system which corner of the screen you would like this to be). You can obviously only hear the sound for the main picture. There is a button on the remote which allows you to switch between the two pictures.

My remote is silver the same as the television. It's very slim and light weight. The remote is universal (another thing I'm not used to after my old television) and I can use the remote to also activate my DVD player, Digital box and VCR. But me being an old fashioned bird, always end up using all four of the remote controls. For the less tidy, what happens if you lose your remote - maybe it's fallen behind the sofa and you can't find it. There's a little button on the television you need to press (make sure the television is at least in stand by mode or is on). Once this button is pressed the remote control will make a noise and you can then play hunt the remote in the direction of the noise!

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