i also did end up with canon after all ... got an ixus II digicam and an eos SLR, bought on of those LIDE scanners for my sister. i'm quite happy with all of those.
it's not always just the specifications but quality that matters. for example digital cameras: i bet most x-megapixel-canons perform at least as good as a cheap x+1-megapixel-model does.