Even though we do love it, it does suffer from first generation syndrome; it’s about $100 too expensive, and comes bundled with a laughably inadequate 32MB SD card. However with so many other points in its favour, the discerning gadgeteer won’t care about these minor shortcomings.

If you’re already comfortable using a camcorder, the TX1 could be a good choice for taking still photos and short video clips. It’s hard to imagine packing a 10X zoom into a smaller package. That small size, unfortunately, leaves you with a small LCD and comes at a high price.

There is undoubtedly a market for this kind of product, but I think Canon needs to go back to the drawing board before it launches the TX2.

Canon’s Powershot TX1 is an interesting 7-megapixel model. While it’s not as comfortable to hold in your hands as Sanyo’s Xacti series models, the TX1 offers better image quality, performance, a more durable exterior and movie quality.

If you’re after a hybrid HD video and still camera, then the PowerShot TX1 is a fairly decent choice, but a few image quality issues and an irritating control layout stop it from reaching its full potential.

Canon’s concept is good – a solid digital camera with awesome high definition video that can record just as well and as long as a camcorder and still snap album-worthy photos – but that’s not what the TX1 is. It’s an average camera coupled with an underdeveloped movie mode, stuck in a body that’s too small.

Despite, or perhaps because of, an impressive feature set for such a small camera, the Canon Powershot TX1 is a poor digital camera. Although the photo quality in bright light is acceptable, the TX1 falls short photographically in several areas. This camera’s most significant problem is its ergonomics which make it difficult to use, particularly for portrait shots. The camera is also underpowered with very short battery life and a weak flash.