I have a Canon PowerShot A510 digital camera, why do my batteries die so fast?!!!!?

Rechargeables are the way to go. If you use the display more it will eat the batteries faster too. If you still want disposable batteries, use lithium instead of alkaline.

Digital cameras eat batteries for breakfast. Sad to say buy the batteries that are made for Digital cameras or do what i do. I bought the 15 minute rechargeable ones

The LCD screen draws a lot of power. If you are taking a lot of snap shots, turn off the display and just look through the optical viewfinder. It can dramatically increase battery life.

Also, the flash uses a lot of power.

Use rechargeable ones,
I have a A510 also and have good battery life.

check the manual to see if you are using the wrong abtteries, you may be using alkaline batteries when it needs lithium. this is what happened to my camera

Do you use your optical viewfinder? Turn off the monitor and use it if you do. LCD monitors are battery hungry devices. The longer you leave it on, the quicker the batteries will drain. If you don't have an optical viewfinder so you MUST use the monitor, set it to turn off after the minimum time offered, such as 5 or 10 seconds. Don't spend too much time reviewing your pictures on your camera. Save that for the computer when you can use a card reader and not drain your camera batteries.

Rechargeable batteries are certainly the best, but if you do not use rechargeable batteries, get Energizer e虏 LITHIUM batteries (or the Duracell equivalent) and you will get much better battery performance. They cost twice as much as alkaline batteries, but they last four times as long.