laptops, your advice wanted

ok, i bought a macbook in june this year and it's crashed maybe 10-15 times since. plus it's taking much longer to startup nowadays. i've got a feeling that it might die on me within the next few months and i'd like your opinion. should i shell out $419 for applecare, extending the warranty to three years, (yes it costs that much here in australia) or should i keep the money and use it for a better laptop to come out next year?

Does it have extra ram you put in it? There's a damn good chance the ram is why it's acting shitty, Macs are unfortunately sensitive to what you give them. Also, not that this seems to be needed often, but maybe Archive and Install OS X? If all else fails, take it to an AppleCentre and explain what's shitty about it, they will help you.

Don't buy AppleCare. Wait until the warranty dies, sell the MacBook on eBay or whatever (should be worth $1350-1600 depending on what model you have) and buy a new one for $300-500 more. Or do what I did and realise Apple laptops are shitty and get an iMac