So... Upon switching on the TV on Sunday morning, I was met with no picture and a flashing red light under the Sony badge, and subsequently despite trying various advised 'online fixes', to no avail, it became apparent that it was fucked!

Or to be more precise, the screen was gone and it needed a new panel. Sadly TVs just don't last like they used to. In the old days, it wasn't uncommon for some CRTs to last 30-odd years! With today's TVs, there's no chance of that. You're lucky if you get 5 or 6 years from them. Turns out we got 5 (and a bit) from ours.

Annoying too, we bought it on 03/09/16, with a 5-year guarantee, and it popped on 19/9/21 - a mere 16 days after the warranty expired!

However, being a hater of just chucking things away (and the rather odious 'disposable society' we live in today), I still enquired about having it fixed, but was advised that it would be around £500 for a new screen, so as the TV only cost £800 new, it simply wasn't worth it, and of course, looking at things positively, it was an opportunity to upgrade!

So, upgrade we have to this (purchased from John Lewis with a free 5-year guarantee): https://www.johnlewis.com/sony-bravi...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

Superb review here: https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/son...8-inch-oled-tv

It's last year's model, but still amply up-to-date, and which was originally £1800, so a good buy I thought, especially as with this particular model, performance wise, Sony really hit the highs!

In any case, I've been wanting an OLED for some time, but it's only recently that manufacturers started making them in smaller screens than 55". That's just too big for our lounge and would dominate the room, which may be fine for those who consider what's ostensibly (with no image present) an ugly black piece of plastic stuck on their wall, or on top of their cabinet, as a 'centrepiece', or something to justifiably 'show off', but count us out.

Therefore, with this model being a relatively 'dinky' 48", it's perfect for our needs and still bigger than the 43" TV it replaced! Anyway, it's being delivered on Saturday, and I can't wait to see the results with 4K HDR Blu-Rays, on our Panasonic DP-UBB20 player, plus all UHD material broadcast on Netflix, Sky or Virgin movies...

Full review to follow!

Marco.