3 Greats and Not-So-Greats of the Macbook Air

1. It's lightweight. Weighing in at only 3 pounds, the Macbook Air is easy and convenient to transport. You can easily fit it in your backpack, briefcase or bag. This makes it perfect for college students. It is also about the thickness of your index finger, making transport even easier.

2. It's environmentally friendly. The Macbook Air has been designed with the environment in mind, so you can surf the web and feel good about it. It is made of recyclable aluminum, so when it no longer works it won't be taking up precious space in our landfills. Many of the chemicals found in other laptops are absent in the Macbook Air. For example, it doesn't Arsenic in the glass, or Mercury in the LED Screen. It was rated EPEAT Gold and meets Energy Star 5.0 requirements.

3. It has a full-size keyboard. While many other companies are reducing keyboard size to achieve a light weight, the Macbook Air has a full-size, backlit keyboard. It also has a 13-inch screen, so you can easily surf the web, play games, or work on the research paper.

3 Not So Great Things About the Macbook Air

1. It's price. As with all Macs, the Macbook Air is more expensive than other laptops, such as Dell and HP. However, it's price has gone down substantially since it first came out, while at the same time it gained more storage space and a faster hard drive. Before you count out the Macbook Air based on price, consider all of it's features and the features it lacks.

2. It has just one USB port. Unlike other Mac models, the Macbook Air has just a single USB port. While this may be a problem for some, most people will only use one USB at a time. However, if this is a problem, there are some solutions. Solution number 1: buy a bigger flashdrive and put all your stuff on to it. You still might run into some problems, say trying to plug in a camera and a flashdrive at the same time. This brings me to solution number 2: Buy a USB Hub. You can find these in most any office store, or online. This website has some cool ones, including a folding snake and one that glows. http://www.coolstuffexpress.com/Cool-usb-hub.html for the folding snake or http://www.coolstuffexpress.com/color-morphing-usb-expansion-hub.html for the glowing one.

3. It is the slowest of the Macs. In testing, compared to the rest of the Macs, the Air is the slowest one currently shipped from their online site. For example, the Macbook scored a 198 in tests, with higher numbers being better, while the Air scored only 175. The MacbookPro scored 239, while the Air that is the same price scored only 156.

Keep in mind that before deciding if the Macbook Air is right for you or not, you must consider what your needs are, depending upon what you will be using it for.