Leave ON or Off?

I have a WDTV Live PLus connected to my wired network with a WD Elements 2TB external hard drive attached.  Would it help to increase the life ot the WDTV and hard drive by turning it off when not in use. Or does it make that much difference. I would like to leave it on.  Thanks for any replys.

I pretty much leave my Live on 24/7.

I’m not overly concerned about the electrical cost.  Mine seems to be sufficiently ventilated and not generating excessive amounts of heat by staying on –  wouldn’t necessarily enclose it/pile things on it/put it on other heat-generating equipment.

Mine does “sleep” the attached drives (mine are My Book Essentials drives, not Elements drives, but I don’t see that mattering) after a specific timeout (which I’ve never bothered to time).  It does take a bit to wake the drive(s) back up, but less than booting from “off”.  Unless the drive builds up excessive heat while sleeping, there shouldn’t be a drastic reduction in its service life, as far as I know.