Sometimes a seemingly complex problem requires the simplest of solutions. Case in point is Western Digital’s WD HD Media Player, which provides a near fool-proof way of watching almost any video downloaded from the Internet on the TV. The device can also be used to view photos and as a music player.

The tiny box – about the size of a small paperback book, only thicker – does away with WiFi or Ethernet and all the potential hassles of a streaming over a home network. Instead, you simply connect it to the television (preferably a High Def one via HDMI) and insert a USB thumb drive or any other mass storage USB device in which your content is stored and you’re good to go. Of course, the WD HD Media Player isn’t the first product to take this non-networked approach to shuttling content downloaded from the Internet via PC to the TV, but here’s where it beats most of the competition. Throw virtually any file format at the device and it plays.