What are the "pros and cons" of the MacBook Air? Is it the right Apple notebook for my needs?

Like any other purchase, only you can make the decision whether or not the MacBook Air is the right notebook for you, but you can evaluate the pros and cons of the model to see if your needs are met. This "run down" may be helpful in making a decision:

Pros:

• Only three pounds.
• Stunningly beautiful, thin design.
• Bright, LED-backlit widescreen display.
• Full-size keyboard with backlighting and ambient light sensor.
• Clever "multi-touch gesture" trackpad.
• Respectable battery life.

Cons:

• Slow processor, slow integrated graphics.
• Slow and small hard drive (even smaller and more expensive SSD option available).
• Non-swappable battery.
• Processor and RAM cannot be upgraded, hard drive is difficult to upgrade.
• No internal modem or Ethernet (adapters are available -- no Gigabit Ethernet connectivity possible).
• No Firewire port, single USB port, no ExpressCard/34 slot.
• No internal optical drive (external option available).
• Expensive.

Basically, if you are looking for a beautiful, lightweight notebook Mac with a reasonably large display and full-size keyboard and have modest performance, expansion, and connectivity needs -- and you are not on a tight budget -- then the MacBook Air might be the perfect system for you. For those with plenty of available cash who need a lightweight "companion" system to a desktop, the MacBook Air also fits the bill admirably.

If price, performance, connectivity, screen size, or expansion are high priorities -- but weight is not -- a MacBook or MacBook Pro would be a better choice. Site sponsor PowerMax sells the MacBook Air, MacBook, and MacBook Pro.

You might also enjoy reading in-depth reviews from MacWorld, MacInTouch, ArsTechnica, and WSJ.com.