Dish Network is introducing on a new feature that will allow subscribers to purchase items from the Home Shopping Network (HSN) with a click of the remote control.

I admit that HSN is not a channel I find myself watching very often. In fact, I can probably count the times I have watched it on one hand. It’s just not the kind of thing I like to watch.

If I were an HSN fan, I would be very excited about this development because when I want to buy something, I would much rather place my order online through a web site or, in this case, use a remote control to place my order!

I just don’t like ordering stuff on the telephone. For me it’s just a hassle to have to call up, navigate through some silly system (“If you would like to place and order, press 3, blah, blah, blah”) and then talk to a sales rep and provide them with my name, address and credit card info.

At the moment, shopping is limited to the DishHome channel 100, but soon Dish Network will offer the capability of making purchases right on the HSN channels. The new feature, developed by HSN, is called “Shop By Remote.”

I think this is a neat idea and I suspect HSN will see their sales increase as a result. People who may not like ordering by phone (like me) and may not be computer savvy or comfortable buying things online might be more comfortable using something as familiar as a TV remote control.

I’ve posted some videos that show how some of the features of my Dish VIP 622 DVR actually works — how it looks on the television screen when you actually use these features.

For those who might be thinking about getting a Dish Network DVR, these videos will show you how they actually work.

It’s great to be able to read about how stuff like this works, but I always like to see something demonstrated if I can, and if you feel the same way I do, you may appreciate these videos.

Just click here to check them out.

It’s no secret that I am a huge HDTV fan. For my money HDTV and Dish Network are the best possible combination for television viewing.

Here’s the bottom line: I pay Dish Network about $70 a month for one HD-capable DVR/receiver and a standard receiver in another room. Combine that with the fact that you can get a very nice 51-inch rear-projection HDTV set these days for about $800 and I think that’s a pretty good deal for those who want to make the jump to HDTV.

There are other HDTV sets you can get cheaper, but the quality is probably going to be lacking. The rear-projections sets are an older technology and are not as “sexy” as the flat screen models, but the picture is as good or better than the flat screen sets with the possible exception of the 1080p models, which are still quite expensive.

Nobody that I know of is offering more HD programming that Dish Network and although there are bold promises about lots of new HD channels coming from the “other” satellite provider, from what I have read, they have made some bold promises in the past that have not materialized. Dish Network has the HD programming content now and to me, that beats promises any day.

This is an interesting article regarding the future of TV and how HD is rapidly growing in popularity.

For the third time in four years, Dish Network has achieved the number one ranking for customer satisfaction among satellite and cable TV providers.

As reported by the 2007 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), the number one ranking for Dish was determined by consumer surveys that were conducted during the first quarter of 2007. Customers were surveyed regarding perceived overall quality, perceived value and expectations.

This latest win for Dish Network marks the seventh year in a row that the company has scored higher than all cable TV companies.

Dish Network has announced recently the availability of the German language channel called Kino Plus.

Kino Plus programming includes theatrical movies, classic movies, television series and documentaries.

The channel is available “a la carte,” which is their way of saying you can just buy that one channel and add it to your current channels if you would like to do that.

Dish has a very impressive offering of international channels and the addition of Kino Plus adds to the diverse choice Dish Network customers have when it comes to satellite television programming.

Although I am not much of a sports fan, it’s interesting to note that Dish Network has just added two new local sports channels to their line-up. Even though I am not a sports fan, I am an HD fan and both these channels are HD channels.

The two new channels are Sun Sports (Channel 372), a channel that offers Florida viewers professional games and various events in HD, and SportSouth (Channel 381), which broadcasts sporting events from the Southern areas of the country.

Apparently there are plans to add more regional HD sports channels this year.

Since I’ve had my new Hitachi HDTV and Dish Network VIP 622 DVR for a couple of months now, I thought it might be a good idea to post an update.

I’m still in love with my new HDTV setup here and as I have played around with the VIP 622 DVR, I have learned more about its features and capabilities. What a long way we have come since I had my first VCR back in the early 1980′s!

I really love the feature of the 622 DVR that lets me tell it to record a certain program whenever it is on. I can just select a program from the program guide and tell the DVR to record it. It gives me the option of recording the show once, recording the show every time it comes on or recording it only when new episodes are aired. I can set it once to record my favorite shows and never have to think about it again!

I guess stuff like this is no big deal to those who have had Tivo for a while since that does the same thing, but this is all new for me and has really revolutionized my television viewing.

I sit down every so often and call up the list of the programs that have been recorded and see which of my favorite programs have been recorded since I last checked. I can watch them whenever I feel like it and with the magic yellow button that jumps ahead 30 seconds every time it is pressed, commercials are a thing of the past when I watch recorded programming.

I’m getting quite used to HDTV now and it is very noticeable to me when a standard definition (non-HDTV) program comes on. I think my wife is getting sick of listening to me cry out in pain when I see standard definition programming!

There is more and more high definition programming coming out all the time and that’s great news for all of us HDTV snobs. Just recently, the NBC Nightly News started broadcasting in HD, although the only HD content seems to be of the anchorman at his desk, but it’s a start.

The ever-popular American Idol program is also broadcast in HD, as well as Dancing With the Stars, the Late Show With David Letterman and House. I am sure there are many others, but those are some of the programs we watch around here.

One program I just have to talk about is that series on the Discovery Channel called Planet Earth. What a fantastic program. We watch it on Discovery HD Theater and the HD footage they show is fantastic. That program is worth watching even if you cannot watch in HD, however. There sure is a lot about this planet and the life on it that I never knew about. I cannot recommend the program highly enough.

To sum things up, I’m as satisfied with my new HDTV setup as I was when I first got it. I am very glad I decided to make the investment and for anyone who is thinking about upgrading to HDTV, I say go for it. Once you see HDTV in your own home, you may never want to see standard definition TV ever again.