When choosing between an electric or gas powered chainsaw think about where you live, and your landscaping. Do you live in a city with only a couple of small trees on your property? You will probably be better off purchasing an electric chainsaw. However, if you live in the country and are surrounded by trees you are more likely to have larger branches on the ground after a storm and they will be further from the house.
When you purchase an electric chainsaw you always have to keep in mind where you are going to get your power from. You will be constrained to taking your saw no more than 100 feet from your power source, so if you live on three acres, you are not going to make it.
You also need to think about how much power you will need. The size of the branches you are going to be cutting will be a determining factor as well.
As long as you are only going to be cutting fairly small branches you will be ok with an electric chainsaw.
Think about the jobs you are going to be doing. Will you be doing heavy duty cutting of large branches, or cutting down trees? Are you looking for something to help prune a couple trees in your yard? These are the questions that will help you determine which chainsaw is right for you.
Both types of chainsaws have their advantages and disadvantages. If you are smaller in stature you may want to consider getting the electric chainsaw. It will be much lighter and more manageable. You also will not have to worry about lugging a gas can around, getting the gas/oil ratio correct. You will, on the other hand, have to worry about not cutting through the cord.
If you are going to have a lot of heavy duty cutting, or you will need to take your saw on location with you, you will definitely need a gas powered chainsaw.
No matter which kind of chainsaw you ultimately decide upon, you must make sure to use safety equipment each and every time you use your saw. You also must make sure your chainsaw chain stays sharp. Using a dull chainsaw is the quickest way to have a chainsaw accident. It is imperative for safety's sake to keep your chainsaw sharp, if you don't know how to do it, take it to a professional to have it sharpened.