My House: Televisions

All of the televisions ended up having basically the same configuration, the only difference was size of the TV depending on the room:

• We used the Panasonic TC-G model televisions.  These are all plasma televisions that have built in internet access. More on the internet access later.
• Each television has its own TiVo HDXL instead of a cable box.  The TiVo is the best DVR on the market and allowed us to schedule programs over the internet, share programs between televisions (something recorded in the Kitchen can be watched in the bedroom), transfer shows onto our laptops for watching in the car, and access Amazon and Netflix internet movie rentals.
• Each television has its own AppleTV.  This allows us to rent and buy TV shows and movies directly from the TV which then also automatically appear on our computer and iPods.  It also lets us view all of our digital photographs on the televisions, which the kids love.
• Sony BDP-S550 Bluray DVD player.  Although I think that DVDs are going to disappear in the next few years, we wanted the ability to play them.  This particular unit has internet features and other bells and whistles, but we use it simply as a Bluray DVD player with excellent results. 
• Each TV has an RTI T3-V remote control.  We’ve programmed the remote to be very easy to operate, it works all the equipment hidden in closets, and they sit in a rechargeable cradle so they are always charged when we come out to the house.  (No more changing batteries when we get to the house).  The remote control is also connected to our Lutron Homeworks system so that it can control the lights – great for automatically lowering the lights when we start watching TV.