FLASH DIED! Tec support not helpful, random strange quirks

I received this camera as a birthday present before a school trip to New York. I was very happy with it, and it worked perfectly for about a year and a half. It did use batteries a lot, but it wasn't that horrible. But it started doing weird things like taking a picture then saying it was corrupted, or an unsupported file, and zooming in and out on its own, and taking forever to save to the memory card. Then a few months ago the flash quit working, tec support says there is nothing they can do and its out of its warranty period. So if you only need it to work for a year or two, don't hesitate to buy, but if you want something a little more long lasting, stay away. I think I'll be looking into a kodak digital camera next...