Awesome, congrats!
A couple comments:
- 30 times zoom is fantastic, and more than you'd ever get on an SLR unless you spend $1500+ on the lens alone.
- Don't worry about not having RAW. I've talked to semi-professional photographers, and even they don't shoot in RAW. I'm sure there are some situations where pros use it, but it's nothing you'll ever miss.
If you're interested in learning how to shoot nice pictures in Manual mode, I had this book recommended to me by several people. It does a really good job of demystifying aperture/shutter/ISO. Every pic in the book lists the settings he used for it, and why he chose them.
Understanding Exposure
