BOAC
I have a "basic" flat screen Samsung in the "family room" as SWMBO calls it. (It used to be the play room, but the kids are a bit old for that now).
It is my theory that when channels suggest they could do more with an internet connection, they are just suggesting either that you might like to shovel money their way, or that they might give you a "red" button to get more than one channel on one channel.
I wanted a gadget so I could both use the internet in the "fanily room", and see BBC iplayer type programmes. As I recently bought a new pana from Richer sounds, I got a "free" pana dvd player with it. I didn't want the one they offered as it did no more than my current gadget. For an extra £30 they gave me a pana dmp-bdt 320 which is a blu-ray player with internet access and iplayer via the Ancient wi-fi.
It works fine. It is "Smart" and enables the tv to appear as though it is smart.
Be careful of some of the pana Viera offers. Viera connect is s'posed to be lots better than its predecessor - "Viera Cast". Ditto be wary of Apple and Sony tv "offers". The older products are allegedly dodgy, and not all get iplayer.