I never got the chance of playing around with the JVC model, but Panasonic 3CCD models are all good considering their price. I was in a market for a 3CCD cam and I played with Canon, Panasonic, and Sony cams and in my opinion Panasonic has an overall better video quality. But all of the 3CCD cams in this price range have average performance in low light conditions, for average customer its ok but if you really want to make a living out of it you obviously have to move to a higher price point if you do a lot of shooting indoors.
Anyway, for few bucks more you can get Panasonic PV-GS300 as it has a Leica lens and the GS180 doesn't which will give you a better image quality.
Check out
http://www.camcorderinfo.com they have good reviews/overviews and comparisons of various camcorders.
