Doesn't hold power for long!

I will put in brand new shiny batteries (alkaline not rechargeable, rechargeable don't work at all) and get MAYBE two or three photos before the camera goes dead and shuts itself off. I can turn it on for another photo sometimes and then it will shut off again. Is it getting overheated somehow? Did I blow up some internal power source? It sounds like a few of us have this issue (my sister has the same camera and she has this problem too only not as severe, she can take 10 pics at a time), so is it a deadly flaw in this design? I have also tried turning off the LCD screen in hopes of saving power and this has NOT helped either.