I was given an 820 about a year ago. I haven't really noticed any stay stitching when I use the auto cut, but then I'm usually done with the seam. I have not been able to figure out a way to not have it start without the tiny stitches, I would also like to not do that! I use a spider/leader to get around that but there are times when maybe I want to start in the middle of a stitched row and have the stitches all be consistent.
I couldn't get EasyPeezy's link to work for me. I know we do have several other people on the boards who do have the same modern 820/830s.