Well, as promised Dixons (Currys, whoever) called 30 minutes before they were due to arrive giving me enough time to shoot home from the office.
They dropped it off, waited whilst I checked it was the correct one (it is) and then off they went.
It's set up and I've fiddled with it a little. I can't comment on the Freeview channels because I live in an area with hardly any reception.
When they say it shows real blacks, they mean it - and reds, blues, greens - in fact the colour reproduction is amazing. The blacks produced on the screen virtually match the black exterior of the tv (and for anyone who has seen one in the flesh, it's very very black indeed!) which surprised me. It's easily better than any CRT tv I have seen.
A friend of mine has the Pioneer plasma (you know the one - black and £2600) and I can honestly say I couldn't see the difference. Sure, viewing standard Sky programmes the picture isn't as sharp as on a 32", but that's nothing to do with the tv itself, just the sheer size of the screen. DVD's are razor-sharp, which is where you really notice the difference. Plus, I'm only using basic Scart leads.
The sound doesn't have a great deal of bass to it (not surprising for a tv this flat), but to be honest even when listening to music (MTV Base was used as a test), you can hardly notice it. At loud volumes there's no distortion, and the sound seems to carry really well around all parts of the room.
To sum up, it looks bloody fantastic, the image is amazing and the sound doesn't suffer as much as you would expect coming from a CRT to a flat panel. For £1300, there's nothing else on the market at the moment I would consider - and I think I'm right in saying that to get something as good as this from another manufacturer you're probably likely to end up spending £400 - £500 more, which is the price of a decent surround system, meaning you'll end up with superior sound to boot for the same cash.
If you're wondering whether to get one or not, just get one - you won't be disappointed.
NOW THEN - can anyone tell me the best way to connect my standard Sky box and DVD player to it to get the best results?