Best Stuff of the Year: Connected HDTVs

Bigger and brighter are no longer the key features in the HDTV war that's currently being waged on the back wall of the local electronics store. If a TV is going to get any attention from our Internet-ruined brains, it's going to have to play nice with the world wide web. 2009 saw its fair share of connected panels, but these five are better at getting online than your two-finger-typing parents ever will be.

Sony XBR10 46-inch HDTV $4,500

It's the most expensive box on the list, but Sony's flagship panel is as swanky as they come. LED sidelighting produces unbelievably dark blacks and color that's strikingly accurate. It uses Sony's BraviaLink technology to get online, which means you have access to a whole heap of web apps, including the all-mighty Netflix streaming.

Samsung UN46B8600 46-inch LED HDTV $3,599

Sammy has thrown themselves full-force at the LED market, taking full advantage of the technology's low power usage and ability to churn out wild amounts of contrast. Plug it into your home network and you can call up a whole heap of Yahoo! widgets, as well as your Flickr account. That makes it kind of like a giant digital photo frame, only it doesn't suck.

Panasonic TC-P46G15 46-inch Plasma HDTV $1,599

You know that blow-hard friend you have who works at a video store and is always talking about how "plasma is dead?" He's an idiot. Panasonic's 1080p TV cranks out a picture that's both smooth and accurate. It's the only set on our list that's THX certified, which means it's perfectly capable of showing movies the way they were meant to be shown. Plus, the Vieracast technology is one of the most robust web suites around so there's never an excuse to turn it off and go do your work.

LG LH50 42-inch LCD HDTV $2,300

There's no LED backlighting involved, but this panel is all kinds of connected. Fire up the Web and it gives you access to Youtube, Netflix and Yahoo! Widgets, which means hours of free entertainment, even if you're too cheap to spring for a Blu-ray player. Plus, it supports DivX so you can watch all those videos you downloaded....legally, of course.

Roku HD XR $129

If you recently bought a new TV, you're probably not interested in buying a whole new set just to get the Internet on your main screen. But, Roku's versatile little box gives your existing panel access to Netflix streaming, as well as Amazon Unbox and MLB.com. It has an HDMI out and streams HD video over a built-in wireless N connection. If you're stuck with an old standard-def TV, you can get the basic box for just $80 and Netflix your cheap little heart out.