I was looking for a second camera last autumn and really liked Canon's MV series from what I had read on the internet and the advice of other people in the business. So I went to some stores and looked at the features and pricing of as many MV's as I could, from the 690 to the 850. I said I would stay in the middle zone, with the 790 or the 800. Nothing can beat hands-on experience, though. I tested them both and I couldn't believe the low quality video they produced. They did well outdoors but when I got indoors they just didn't perform accurately, not even under studio-like lightning. Washed out colors, auto-focus constantly failing etc.
Sure, they're entry level camcorders, designed for home users so you can't expect too much, but I really had better expectations from Canon.