Canon A2000 IS

Size / Portability (7.00)
The A2000 is 4.01 inches wide x 2.50 inches high x 1.26 inches deep (101.9 x 63.5 x 31.9mm), taken from the thick side of the wedge, and weighs 6.5 oz (185g). It's a little big to fit in your pants if you're a fan of ultra-tight jeans, but it'll easily slip into a coat pocket or handbag.

Handling Ability (6.50)
The unique wedge shape of the camera, despite making it look vaguely like a door stop, means that the one side is enlarged, which makes it easier to grip. This is also the area where the batteries are stored, and most of the weight of the camera is on this side, which means that if you're holding it one-handed, it's extremely easy to move around. In general, the body's big enough that even the most large-handed of users should be able to hold it without problem.

The A2000 is easy to hold, regardless of your hand size.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (5.50)
Unfortunately, the generous proportions of the body don't quite transfer to the buttons. In fact we found said buttons to be jam-packed in too close together, and we frequently hit more than one at a time, especially while navigating menus. While the buttons are quite pretty (especially with the circular section motif going on), we found their proximity and size aggravating for all but the most dexterous photographer.

The buttons are small and cramped.

Menu (6.00)
The menus on most Canon cameras are well organized and easy on the eyes thanks to bright colors and large fonts. That said, we found the menu system of the A2000 to run long, requiring you to scroll through pages of options to find the one you need. We would have liked to have seen multiple tabs for each menu section, as Canon does with its SLRs.

The menu system you'll use most often will probably be the Function menu, which lets you tweak exposure compensation, white balance, colors, metering and image size. This menu is accessed by pressing the Func. Set button on the camera.

Unsurprisingly, the Record menu is only available while shooting, and governs the controls associated with that mode. Here you'll find settings for zoom controls, flash, image stabilization and auto focus.

The Set Up menu can be accessed either in shooting or playback modes, and governs such crucial controls as the colume, LCD brightness, and date and time settings. These tend to be the controls you set up once, and leave them as they are.

While in Playback mode, you get access to two menus, the first of which is Play. From this tab you can start a slideshow, categorize your photos, resize, rotate or protect them.

The second menu only available while in Playback is Print, wherein you are able to select the number of prints you want for each image if you're using DPOF (direct print order forms), or print directly if you're plugged into a printer.