What is meant by advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 1

Advantages are the "good points," and disadvantages are the "bad points."

For instance: One advantage of a laptop computer is that you can take them with you nearly anywhere. The disadvantages of a laptop computer include it being easier to lose it or for thieves to steal it from you.

Answer 2

An advantage is a factor which makes things better; a disadvantage is the opposite. In a competition, an advantage is some fact which gives a competitor a better chance of winning. "This Basketball team is taller than the other, which should give them an advantage." In a sentence like "I have something which will be to your advantage." it just means something which will do you good. Where advantages and disadvantages are talked about together, it is often a discussion of pros and cons, the good and bad aspects of an idea, as in "The advantage of carrying an umbrella is that you don't get wet; the disadvantage is that your hands aren't free."