I just stumbled across this device from Western Digital called WD TV. Basically, it's a box that you connect to a TV, then plug in 1 or 2 USB drives. On those drives, it can play music, video files or display photos. Beats carrying around a stack of CD's.
Here's the link:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=572
My brother was wanting to hook up a media player to his tv at home, but didn't want to get into running network cables. This would definitely fit the bill for him, especially for only $129, plus whatever size USB drive he wants to use.