A couple of comments:
1) I think it's absurd how much energy the Vip722 uses. With a kill-a-watt device, I measured a pretty steady draw of 50 watts, even in standby. Not only does this extra energy draw cost money, but it generates a lot of heat which means my AC has to work harder to cool the house - so it's a double energy waste. I probably watch 10 hours or less of TV a week, and find it absurd that my DVR has to run constantly the other 158 hours.
2) I'm no expert, but my HTPC can go into sleep mode where it draws 2-3 watts and has no problem waking up to record a show using media center. Given that windows can do this, it seems like a well designed DVR should be able to do this as well.
3) For those posters who responded with the "why don't you just get rid of all your AV equipment if you want to save energy" argument, thanks for nothing. It's absurd to argue that being green means giving up all energy consuming devices that one owns. That would be like arguing that one doesn't care about their fellow humans if they don't give every last bit of their wealth to charity. IF the market asks for more energy efficient products engineers will look for ways to build them.
