For all the appeal of this small and proficient camera, the battery life is quite short, and the bottom-mounted battery doesn't allow for a larger battery to be used. And extra batteries are quite expensive! ($70 with no free shipping).

Yes, the internal memory + two SD slots will allow for hours and hours of continuous recording...from an AC power source! But the battery? The "mini instructions" that come with the camera suggest a typical recording time of 45 minutes. 45 minutes? I've NEVER had a camcorder with such short life on a new battery!

I've been testing, and the actual maximum continuous recording time, with no zooming or focusing, is about 75 minutes to an external SD card. Recording to the internal memory increases the recording time slightly, as does setting the viewscreen to 'extra dim' mode.

Conclusion: the extended recording time of the multi-memory system is completely wasted, as the battery will be the limiting factor for almost every user.

Other issues: I like the touch-screen, but it helps to have fingernails.
The flashing red "access" light on the back of the camera is really annoying.
Low-light performance is not as good as previous Canon camcorders.
The lens mount has threads for an accessory, and there's a mic jack and headphone jack option (unlike an otherwise attractive Panasonic competitor).
The camera defaults to recording on the internal memory, even after you put in a memory card, which is confusing.

The full instruction manual is included only on a CD disc; very annoying.

Haven't yet looked into the file format, but if, as suggested, it's non-standard, that would be quite a drawback.

Sad to say, I'll be returning this camera AND the Panasonic. Maybe by next year chip cameras in this price range will be worthwhile. This year (7/2011), not so much.

--Gary