stupid question but since it uses the tv internal tuner (and let's say with cablecard), when you schedule something to record with tvgos, does the tv have to stay on for it to record correctly? if the tv can be off, does the tv turn on when it time to record?

yes to both.
off = standby in the 2nd case. obviously it will not turn it off if its unplugged.
actually, TV turns itself on out of standby mode and starts sending the recording to symbio.
the symbio unit does nothing more than just sitting there and receiving data.

when it is done recording, does it turn itself back to standby?

also, when unit is turned "on" for a recorded program, is there actually tv image displayed?

what i am thinking is if this is in the bedroom and youe are recording something at 2am, the tv will come on?

No, the TV will not come on.

-Jody

In a nutshell, it will work as follows.
If you are recording a show when the tv is set to "off", the tuner will continue to run as it always does in the background (it uses about 40 watts) but the screen will not be displaying anything. So no, you will not "see" any action on the tv other than the green "record" light (in my case with the Toshiba 50HP95).

So would a Symbio & an OTA Receiver with scheduling capabilities along with Firewire Output (e.g. Samsung SIR-T165) work? Thanks

It should support controlling AVHDD, I don't think T165 has this capability (only DVHS).