Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - Saving energy?

I just bought a new car and with it came a 50" panasonic plasma tv. I have heard that the big screen tv's draw a lot of electricity and that it is best to cut the power, unplug or turn off the surge protecter before turning in for the night. If true would i damage any thing else or lose info on any of the other components, stero or dvd player, that are plugged into the surge protector? Thanks for your help.

After trying this and variations of it you will have to see what happens on an item by item basis.A lot of people say to do this and in general terms it's a good idea but some items will essentially view it as a power failure and it will effect some settings especially if the power is off for hours.Generally DVD,VCR,stereos won't be effected but some TVs can be and any item with a clock or programmed settings can be and either experimentation or reading instructions or both might be a good idea.also I found some items just didn't take well to having the power turned off over and over.Even turned off I had a TV make loud pop noises when you cut the power.

Generally, it is using the plasma set that consumes more electricity than some other technologies.
In standby, draw is comparable with other types of sets.

About the only thing that needs continouous power really are pay TV boxes and some video recorders, especially DVRs.

Most of today's electronics gear goes to sleep or standby when it's not in use. A surround receiver can pull 800 watts while it's supplying full power to the speakers during a DVD movie, but when it's shut off at the remote it pulls only 10 watts. A plasma TV may draw 300 watts when it's on, but only 25 when it's turned off with the remote (but still plugged in).

Add up all of the "idle" watts in all of the electronic gear in a home and it's like running a 100-watt light bulb 24/7. About $5 to $10 a month in electricity, depending on where you live.

Weigh that against the violent slam of electricity of the turn-on surges for all of those devices when the power is turned on. Just powering- off and -on the units every few hours can draw more power than leaving them plugged in waiting for a signal from the remote.

thank's for the replies, guess it wouldn't be the hassle, take care everyone.