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Way back in May we got to grips with Panasonic’s TX-32LXD60, finding it a mighty fine picture performer let down only by connectivity issues and some flimsy sound. So you’ll forgive us if we admit to a tingle of excitement at the arrival of Panny’s supposedly ‘cleverer brother’ to the 32LXD60, the 32LXD600.

It’s quickly apparent that the 32LXD600 isn’t just cleverer than the 60 model; it’s also better looking. The rather uninspiring, plasticky grey of the earlier model is here replaced by a much more pleasant matt black bezel, offset to great effect by an anything-but-plasticky silver strip along the bottom, and an elegant little tabletop stand.

The 32LXD600’s fascia also immediately reveals a key feature plus: the addition of an SD card slot. This slot isn’t just there for playing back digital photos from SD cards either; it can also record TV shows in MPEG4 for playing back later on, say, a portable video device. Neat.

If we were being picky, we might say that it would have been more pro-social of Panasonic to follow the lead of, say, Philips and also provide support for card formats other than just SD. But given Panasonic’s vested interest in SD card technology, we guess that was probably never really likely to happen…

Another substantial step forward for the LXD600 over the LXD60 is the inclusion among its rear connections of a D-Sub jack for attaching a PC. The 32LXD60’s singular lack of any PC support was arguably the blackest mark against it, so it’s a relief to find that put right here.

Also improving connectivity is the provision of three Scarts where the 32LXD60 only had two. Elsewhere it’s a case of business as usual, as we discover two HDMIs, a component video input and a CAM slot for introducing subscription digital TV sources to what’s clearly a built-in Freeview tuner.

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