But once you do get connected, you'll find a nice batch of streaming video, audio, and data options. Among them are Facebook, Netflix, Pandora, Picasa, YouTube, two pay-per-view services (Amazon and CinemaNow), and weather and sports channels.

You can use the same network connection to enjoy photos, music, and videos off your computer--assuming that your computer is running a DLNA server. That's not much of a problem: Windows Media Player will work fine.

If you're not network-savvy, the TC-L42D30 also comes with both USB and SD inputs. That way, you can copy media files from your computer to a flash drive or SD Card, carry the small device into another room, and plug it into your HDTV.

Whether you use USB, SD, or DLNA, the TC-L42D30 does an exceptional job with photos. It finds all the .jpg files on your media, displays them in thumbnails, and lets you select one to view, or start a slideshow. You get plenty of slideshow options, including various transitional effects and musical choices.

It isn't so versatile with video or music, however. Rather than displaying all of the appropriate files, it forces you to drill down into folders to find movies and tunes. The only audio format it plays is .mp3. It listed but couldn't play the .mp4 files I gave it, and it didn't even see my test .avi and .mpeg files. The TC-L42D30's promises support only for "AVCHD/MPEG2/JPEG/MP3 playback."