Amazing looks and quality

First of all , as already mentioned , you can buy this model much cheaper elsewhere - so shop around before you buy ! To be honest I nearly went for the W series as I simply couldnt see a difference in the picture with the W and X side by side , so it was actually the looks of the X series which persuaded me to part with the extra £300 or so .
The glass and silver bezel look simply stunning ! and apparently you can buy different coloured bezels ? even when turned off its a masterpiece ! HOW do they get the lights INSIDE the glass ? there are no wires ?
When running standard defintion through the TV I must say its not quite as good as my friends Pioneer model ( apparently the Panasonic is good too ) but when you run a HD transmission through the TV its simply awesome ! Im a SONY tart so there was no question of any other brands unfortnately !!
Im running SKY HD , XBOX 360 and a SONY DVD player that upscales to 1080P all through the TV - all look stunning !
My only gripe would be that when the TV was fitted to the wall , the positioning of the sockets at the back of the TV ( particuarly the HDMI sockets ) made it very awkward to fit ... but with a third pair of hands and teasing of the cables it was OK . Maybe it would be better to put all the sockets UNDERNEATH the TV to make it easier ? Its my only gripe .. Oh and the remote is RIDICULOUSLY massive ... ?
Id recommend this TV to anyone who is thinking of a 40" LCD TV with full 1080P resolotuion with a budget of £1300 or so ?
Oh and did I mention that the glass and silver bezel look AMAZING !

Fantastic Picture, let down by extremely poor EPG

I'm sure you've noticed that the majority of reviews for the Sony Bravia KDL-40W3000 LCD TV are favourable, and it is true to say that the picture on the Bravia was the key selling point when I bought the TV, and this was after spending many hours in Sony/Panasonic shops to find the best 40".

I'm only giving the TV 3 stars because this is the lowest rating anyone should give for the TV as the picture is amazing. It's not the picture I have a problem with though, but the EPG (electronic programme guide).

I'll have to say that although text is displayed in hi-res, the EPG is awful. I've had freeview for years now, and even the most basic box I've owned can let a user browse through the information of other channels whilst watching the current TV broadcast on-screen. You can then switch to the channel you want via this on-screen info if you find a channel you like the sound of.
You can't do this type of on-screen browsing with the Sony Bravia KDL-40W3000 at all.

Another problem is that you can bring up the Sony's EPG in full, but programmes display their title only and not their information so you can't view their content. The only way you can bring up a programme's information is by pressing the i+ button on the remote and this will fully close down the EPG and display the channel you're interested in with your current broadcast in the background every time.

This is a useless and time-consuming procedure if you use a programme's infomation/content to choose your channels.
Sure, you can go buy a copy of the Radio Times for this info, but this defeats the object of having an EPG in the first place.

I have no idea why Sony have implemented such a useless EPG in their Bravia W3000 series.
I own a Sony Freeview box (VTX-D800U) and have that connected to my Bravia now so that I can use a better EPG. Unfortunately this means that the picture I get isn't as good (as the freeview tuner that comes inside the Bravia is far superior), but I simply can't do without a decent EPG.

Another feature lacking in the KDL-40W3000 is the fact that the UK model doesn't have Picture in Picture (PiP), and instead has a feature called Picture AND Picture (PAP), where you have two unsizable (apparently the American model of the Sony will let you size both pictures equally) screens next to each other.
In practice this is pretty useless, as you can only have a large AV picture in the left-hand part of the screen, and in comparison a really tiny picture in the right-hand part, (which is usually the freeview broadcast) and you can't swap them over. In fact I don't think you can even have the Sony freeview picture in the larger portion of the Picture and Picture mode at all. A great feature of Picture in Picture on a lot of other televisions is that you can switch the source screens around with each other, but you can't do this with the Sony's freeview picture and any other AV source (like a console game, DVD or SKY+). How frustrating!

My advice is to go to a Sony store and get given a demonstration of their EPG and PAP mode before you buy. If you're like me, then you're going to be pretty disappointed with it.

A great TV and a great step forward now for a home cinema

Now as you will no doubt see from all of the reviews on here this is a great TV. I will not go into dteail of what it can do as I think everyone that has reviewed it has done a splendid job but I did want to make a point. The TV does have a great picture and great sound but after purchasing a Thor 1.5m scart lead it is so much better. The Thor (available from Argos for £ 39.99 pr from Amazon for £ 14.00 why go anywhere else) is a great bit of kit and I did think all scarts were the same but beleive me they are NOT !!!!!!!

I decided to bite the bullet and try it and I am so glad I did. It changed the whole set up so if you are happy with this TV do yourself a favour and get a Thor lead to compliment it.

So in a nutshell I can only say WOW what a great TV and now I am off to get a Sony DV260 to go with my TV and a Thor HDMI lead to connect it.

Also I am now off to leave a review for the Thor lead as well...

TV is 10 Star and lead is 10 star as well......

DIED AFTER 16 MONTHS.....

Really liked this tele, however, as it literally has died just outside the 12 month manufacturers guarantee, (no I did not take extended warranty thinking Sony a good name), very disappointed. The set was turned off, when I tried to turn it on again, it would not come on....now looking at £138 just to have the set checked out!!

I would not buy Sony again....