Following on from the issues with the Goodmans set, I decided to bite the bullet and buy a 46 inch Sony X Series LCD.

I’d wanted one of these for a long time, but could never justify one as they’re one of the more expensive sets out there (just over £2500 online as I write), and have a few issues that I wasn’t happy with:

• It’s a Sony, and recent things like the dodgy HDMI on my Sony projector, PS3 delays, and PSP firmware updates haven’t impressed me
• The 46″ X Series LCD has a silver surround, and the optional black plastic surround costs about £150, which I find insulting for two pieces of plastic
• 1080p only over HDMI, not component or VGA
• The VGA input only accepts signals up to 1360×768

Knowing all the above, I still took the plunge. This was for three reasons:

• The display always looked good when I checked it out in shops (as long as it was being fed HD material)
• The feedback on AVForums was the best that I’d read for any LCD TV
• Christmas was approaching fast, and I didn’t want to be without a good TV over the holidays

Having now had the set for a couple of week, I’m absolutely over the moon with it. Other than the issues I mention above, it has no problems at all. In particular:

• Great blacks and colours
• No buzzing or banding
• Good viewing angle
• 1080p over HDMI at 50Hz and 60Hz, with no overscan
• Massively configurable through an extensive menu
• Despite its cost, the black surround is a big improvement over the default silver surround
• Very good sound quality (although I mostly use a Denon receiver and KEF speakers for my sound)