Canon Pixma iP2680

Canon's Pixima range of desktop printers has had a pretty good life from the perspective of sales. When it comes to performance, it hasn’t fared all that bad either. The latest form the company is from their iP2600 series - the iP2680 desktop inkjet printer.
On the plus side the iP2680 is quite light weight so it’s easy to move around although that shouldn’t really be necessary at all. While it may have the look of classy styling with its sleek black glossy finish, it’s also quite the finger print magnet. The front output tray is not something that can easily get in the way of work space and the extension can easily be swung inside to save on space again. The tray even comes with a sensor that will notify users that a print has been given and the tray is closed. It’s designed to be as compact as possible while retaining the design and form of a rather traditional desktop printer.

It has a very simplistic design, like most printers. There aren’t too many buttons or settings you need to worry about. It’s print and go. A small switch is located just inside the front panel (very easily accessible) to choose between regular paper or envelope. The USB port is conveniently located at the rear on one side. I really wish they’d provide longer USB cables. In case your CPU

 

happens to be on the opposite side you’ll end up either having to move it or have the wire stretching across your table. This is perhaps the only faux pas in the otherwise sleek design.
On the whole it does have a certain appeal in terms of looks and comfortable design. I could, however, have done without the glossy finish, just plain matt-black would have been better in my opinion.

The iP2680 is equipped with Canon's FINE print head with 1,472 nozzles for high speed and quality print. The ChromaLife100 technology is also part of the printers make up. This technology helps produce fade resistant prints that should, according to the company last up to 100 years. I’m not sure how that’s calculated though.
Bundled with the iP2680 was Canon's Easy-Photo-Print EX software. It will allow you to edit your pictures (to a certain extent) to help enhance your prints. It’s a handy application to have, but of course no substitute to Photoshop or others like that. Nevertheless, the inclusion of the same is a bonus and the preloaded settings for creating calendars, albums etc. is always useful when you’re looking to create and personalize.

Canon EOS 1000D

Though Canon does have a very strong foothold in the DSLR market in India, there has been a gap that Canon hadn't catered to yet — the ultra-budget DSLR segment.

But the EOS seems more than a cut-short budget camera. For one its build is just about the same as its big brother, the EOS 450D at 126 x 98 x 62 mm. With its weight of merely 502 g, it's definitely the lightest DSLR camera body we've tested till date. Lighter DSLRs may not be a big deal for hardcore enthusiasts, but for a beginner or a casual user who doesn't own a giant camera bag, it's a great asset.

Unfortunately the light weight comes at a slight cost. The camera's body is completely built of bland, mat-finished plastic, which gives it a pretty dull look. Moreover, even the handgrip lacks that high-friction rubber coating, which makes the camera easy to use for hours at a stretch. Now that too wouldn't be just a big issue if the grip had the right contours on it for easy finger placement or even a slightly bigger, more comfortable size. I may sound overtly harsh here, but being a camera user with particularly large hands, I do take my comfort over extended use seriously.

The button layout at the back is exactly the same as the EOS 450D, which would make a Canon user feel right at home. The 2.5-inch screen with 230,000 colors supports Live-view, which seems to have become a norm in DSLR cameras these days. Casual users, however may need to up their game to be able to use this feature as it works only in manual modes. Still I'm pleasantly surprised that Canon added this nifty feature in their lowest-end DSLR model.