You will get a lot of differing opinions. I’ll go first: The answer is: It depends.
It depends on how you use it. If you just watch movies on it, turn it off afterwards. If you use it like I do; for more than movies, then keep it on. For example, all my iTunes music is on a hard disk connected to my Live Plus, and I listen to it all day long. If I don’t want to listen to my music, I switch over to TuneIn Radio, and listen to music from anywhere in the world. If I want to watch a video, well, they are on a hard drive connected to the Live Plus, too. Then, there is Netflix . . . . Maybe someone in the house wants to access some media on the drives from a computer in another part of the house, or I want to send some new files through the network to the Live Plus, etc, etc, etc. The point is, a WDTV is designed to be used, it does lots of things, and I send it through its paces everyday.
Since I eventually go to bed; what the heck, I turn if off until morning when I turn it back on for the day. Why waste electricity while asleep? Anyway, turning it off once in a while (especially pulling the power) is a “reboot” that often clears out any problems that were present when it comes back on.
Some will say it is better to keep it on all day, some will say not to. The reality is: use it, but don’t abuse it ; (i.e. keep it ventilated and cool as possible, and don’t crowd lots of junk around it so it can’t cool properly. If you use it frequently, it will still last quite a long time, and you will have gotten your money’s worth uf and when it dies. Then, just get another. It is not a real expensive gadget to replace every few years if necessary. And besides, the next one you buy will do more and cost the same – or less!
About the hard drives: my hard drives go to sleep (stop spinning) after a few minutes of non-use, but are on stand-by and spin right up again in a moment, ready to go while the WDTV is left on. If your HD doesn’t go to a standby condition, then for sure turn it off to save them from wearing out; they cost more than the WDTV in many cases, and they are mechanical; not just electical like a WDTV
