nigelb999: At the moment I keep my MagicTV 3700 on all the time, but I'm now thinking about turning it off each night before I go to bed in order to save power and give the unit a rest (cool down period).
You may as well try the Energy Saving or All Off standby modes first. The unit will be cool in these modes.
If I turn the unit off via the remote control before going to bed, will MagicTV automatically start up and record programmes that have been scheduled for the early hours of the morning (while the unit has been switched off)
Yes of course, regardless of the standby modes.
and is there any advantage in turning it off (i.e. less power consumption) given that it's in Fast Startup mode?
If you turn it off using the rear power switch, you need to turn it back on before scheduled recording can take place. For a 3700, you should just try the different standby modes, whereas 3600 owners do not have a choice.