Should I switch to a new camera?

This camera has a manual and an auto feature. This gives you the freedom to do point and shoot and also to adjust on your own. Look up Manual settings and how to use them to your advantage and maybe watch some how to videos on you tube. Then go out and practice practice practice. This camera is not all that expensive and is wonderful with image stabilization, zoom, features, and settings. Canon makes wonderful products. If you buy from Walmart- Get the protection plan. I accidentally dropped mine off of a roof into gravel doing a pregnancy shoot and cracked the lens mechanism and walmart replaced it within a week. They were WONDERFUL. I think the replacement plan is less than 20.00 and its totally worth it. You can buy online at Walmart.com but im giving you the link to actually view the camera at Canon.com because they have a full overview that is nice. Also- You get NO optical defects with this camera. It has a zoom alarm that will tell you if it will warp the image. Which is pretty awesome. Check it out. Here is a photo i took with it as well.

Generally speaking, the more zoom a lens has, the worse the image quality. A 4x zoom is not a bad figure, assuming the lens is competently designed. However, if you want your friends to think you are cool and/or you automatically think that in photography big numbers are always better than small numbers, you can get a much longer zoom on any bridge camera, and then you can enjoy the generous range of optical defects which nearly always accompany such a zoom range.

Why don't you look around for a used entry-level DSLR camera with a kit lens? It will cost you a bit over the $300 mark, though. There are many, many photo shops that sell good used cameras, and there are also many sites that likewise sell used great cameras and lenses (for example: Keh.com)