Summary: Good compromise, but too many sacrifices for me.
Comment: Okay so I bought this camera because I wanted something with the powerful zoom and image-stabilization of my S3 IS, but also portability and convenience of my Powershot SD 1000. I was hoping that Canon's TX 1 would fill that need perfectly, but for reasons I am about to stipulate, it did not, and I find myself carrying the other two 90 percent of the time. It's not that this camera isn't good - in fact, had I purchased this before either of the other two I would probably swear it was the greatest miracle on the face of the earth, but I have already used the other two cameras and when I use the TX 1 I find myself wishing that I had one of the others.
Compared with the S3 IS -
Cons:
1. the image stabilization doesn't work nearly as well since there is less room for the sensor to wiggle to accommodate your hand movement, and the lens being smaller lets in less light, forcing the aperture to stay open longer and therefore, increase the chance of blur.
2. The difference between a 10 power and 12 power zoom was negligible though, but unlike the S3, a zoomed-in, low-light shot is impossible for this camera, so in low-light you might as well have a 3 power zoom, because that's the most you're going to get out of it.
3. The autofocus is also much slower and misses more of the time, especially zoomed in or in low-light conditions.
4. You don't have the ability to set the focus point manually, like you do with the S3, and there are also no manual controls for f/stop or shutter speed like on the S3 - only ISO (which I limit at 200 or the shots are too ugly with noise).
5. The 1.7 inch screen is barely big enough to be able to properly frame a shot, but most of the time I just find myself frustrated with it's size.
Pros:
1. it does have a very neat function to manipulate the color setting of the picture AFTER you take it. So you can make every shot you take B/W, Sepia or any of the other options that the camera has. This is really great for me because I used to switch between modes quite a bit and always have a few shots that I wish I would have taken in another mode.
2. Video quality is superb (just like the S3) putting every other camera maker's video mode to shame. But the zoom and start/stop buttons are impossible to manipulate without shaking the camera significantly.
Compared to the SD 1000 -
Cons:
1. Although it probably doesn't seem like much, having to flip out the screen and wait for the lens to pop out is kind of a drag and I find myself not nearly as willing to pull it out for those spontaneous shots as I do the SD 1000, just not as convenient as you would think.
Synopsis -
Although I do think the TX 1 does a good job of filling the middle ground between these two cameras, I just didn't realize that I wasn't willing to sacrifice any of the features of the other two - what can I say, I'm spoiled! And overall if I could only have one of these three cameras for the rest of my life I would choose the S3 despite its conspicuous bulk.