A5: Leave it on all the time.
 
Couldn't the auto power-on and power-off be set so it wakes up just for the time of the recording +/- 5 mins? OK, it'll wake up EVERY day while you're away but it's a short-term workaround.
 
On the other hand the difference between standby and on is 17W. While I can understand folks not wanting to leave it on for months/years on end cos of the cost of electricity (about £20 for the year). For a week it's what, 168 hours. So it'l consume an additional 17W * 168h = 2,856 = 2.856KWh. So about 3 units of electricity - at 10p/unit that's 30p
(Post 29 to FAQ thread by CJL.)