When switching the XHA1 to Auto shooting mode the shutter speed seems to be at 1/25 instead of 1/50. 1/25 makes the video look choppy and any kind of pan looks poor. Should it be 1/25 or can I tweak this setting without shooting in manual mode?

How was your lighting? If you use Shutter priority mode you can restrict the shutter speed and still have auto exposure within the camcorder's aperture and gain limits.

This is a problem with the XHA1 (don't know about the XHA1s). If it is set for 25F progressive, the camera defaults to 1/25 second shutter in TV (shutter priority) mode. It's a pain, since every time it boots up from standby, I have to change it. Any solutions?

1/25th only looks choppy on the screen. It looks fine when uploaded in FCP. Just tried firing up the A1 in 25F in TV mode, and it did default to 1/25th. However once I set it to 1/50th it stayed there no matter what I switched it to and back. Even standby mode. Even after removing the battery, reinserting it, and switch back to TV mode. It stayed 1/50th. Maybe your internal battery needs replacing? Just a guess.