Major manufacturer tells reviewer: sample our kit in... er... a shop

Bootnote What do you do if you're a consumer website and you want to review the latest in 3D telly technology from a very well known major consumer electronics company? Go to John Lewis.

That's what Reg Hardware's 3D TV correspondent was today advised to do by the manufacturer's PR agency.

It's good news for the Middle England's favourite department store, perhaps, but not much help for journalists eager to evaluate products in order to tell their readers whether the items are worth buying or not.

Given that all the world's major telly makers are pitching 3D as a revolution in the way we watch television, we're frankly staggered by their apparent inability to get the technology in the hands of websites read by millions of potential purchasers.

Perhaps they're not as convinced by their own marketing as they would like us to believe?

As sister site to The Register, Reg Hardware agrees wholeheartedly with our sibling's philosophy: "Integrity, we've heard of it."

So while we won't be naming the manufacturer in question - or the public relations agency having to juggle the distribution of so few review units - here and now, we reserve the right to do so in future, especially if offered a sufficiently high cash incentive.

But we'd really prefer simply to be lent some 3D TVs to try... ®