Business travelers know that there are two essential factors that need to be considered whenever one is purchasing an ultraportable laptop. The first is that an ultraportable laptop should be small enough to carry around whenever one is traveling, and it should be light enough not to cause physical pain at the end of the day. The second consideration is functionality. Most ultraportable laptops get stripped down to the minimum features as a sacrifice to size and weight, but they should nonetheless help the business traveler work whenever he or she is mobile.

Of all the Apple MacBooks available in the market today, there is no doubt that MacBook Air is the thinnest, sleekest and lightest laptop they have at the moment. Any Apple MacBook enthusiast would find the MacBook Air tempting enough at first glance to shell out a couple of thousand dollars. But if you are thinking of getting yourself one, consider reading first the list below of the ten essential things you need to know before you buy a MacBook Air.

First five on the list are the pros of the MacBook Air.

Core 2 Duo processor. The MacBook Air comes with a repackaged 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo processor specially made by Intel for the MacBook. Sure, it is visibly slower than most desktops, but it is fast enough to satisfy and it will not cause the MacBook Air to burn your lap.

Backlit LED screen. The MacBook Air may be slim, but you would not have any problems with the width of its LED screen. At 13 inches, this screen is bigger than those of most ultraportable laptops.

Full-sized keyboard. Many laptops have keyboards that are too small to be used. This ultrathin Apple MacBook thankfully did not sacrifice the pleasure of typing on a full-sized keyboard just to shave off a few inches in size.

Fast wireless access. With a good router, the MacBook Air can transfer up to 4 MBps of data, enough to satisfy even speed crunchers.

The Leopard OS. The Apple Macbook’s Leopard OS is considered to be a breakthrough by MacBook users, especially since it supports multi-finger gestures on the touchpad.

Now, for the cons.

Ports. The MacBook Air has only three ports – a USB 2.0 port, a micro-DVI and an input for the headphone.

Battery. The MacBook Air does not have a user-replaceable battery, which could be a problem if the user has no access to a main power source. With minimum use, the battery life of this Apple MacBook is only less than three hours.

Disk drive. The disc drive is a slow 80 GB 1.8 inch unit. You can upgrade it to a 64 GB SSD one, though.

Remote Disk. This MacBook does have a Remote Disk to replace an actually drive, but it is only good for installing software, downloading data and reinstalling the OS in case of problems.

Separate SuperDrive. The MacBook Air does have its very own optical USB SuperDrive, but it is sold separately.

Considering buying a MacBook Air? Think on these ten things first before you do and decide for yourself if this Apple Macbook is indeed a good buy.