I’ve got my rain check at K-Mart, yes you read that right, K-Mart.  I can’t think of a time that I ever wrote about getting something at K-Mart.  But if they actually get this Augen 7″ Tablet it could be a small coo.  I’ve been searching for more info on it and it looks like only K-Mart has this new cost effective tablet.  Did I mention it’s only $150?!?!?

Will it be worth it?  Will I finally have an Android platform to test out?  Hopefully we’ll find out in the next week or two.  Stay Tuned!

Let me first start by laying out my iNventory (ya see what I did there). I have an iPhone, iPod touch and iPad 3G. Some may say that’s too many devices, but a key to stable work flow is redundancy, redundancy, redundancy. Especially when you use the iPhone as a phone you quickly being to realize the benefit of having both an iPhone and iPod. I also have the added benefit of using the MobileMe service. There are a couple of good reasons to have this $99 a year service (rumors of it going free). First is the find my iPhone/iPod/iPad service. Should you forget, loose or have stolen the device and if it can get a signal, it can tell you approximately where your iDevice is. There is even the added benefit of sending it a message to display and if all hope is lost you can remote wipe it for security. The second and most important feature is the auto syncing. When I add a contact to my iPhone, it’s sent up to the MobileMe servers and then pushed to my other iDevices and even my MacBooks and Desktop Windows PC. Redundancy at it’s finest. Also included is web access to your webmail, contacts, iDisk, calendar and MobileMe Galleries.

While my original thought process was to replace my iPod touch with the iPad, it still has it’s place in my arsenal. Because of it’s size, I’ve kept the habit of carrying it. Also knowing the next version will finally have a camera has me excited. But for the gaming and surfing I was doing on my iPod has moved to the iPad and is exponentially better.

I am hearing of lawyers, senators, and doctors all testing out the iPad and how it can integrate into their workflows. For the first time I can envision moving to a paperless environment. I recently had to file some paperwork for some clients, and they sent me PDFs. I opened them up in my TakeNotes App on the iPad and was able to create text boxes and fill out the forms and place the text perfectly into the boxes of the forms. I was able to use my PoGo stylus to actually sign the document then saved and sent the PDF back. Viola, paperwork filled out and processed all digitally and no need to print or waste ink and paper. Not to mention in a much cleaner format than if I were to have filled out the paperwork by hand.

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is pulling together a sales team. I told him that instead of buying them cheap laptops, his best bet was to buy them iPads 3G, get the Square App and have MobileMe. This way the sale people could have all the paper work and presentations safely stored on the device and even process the clients payment right there on the spot. Leads could even be loaded on the devices remotely for the sales person to follow up with. With the proper training sales people using the iPad can be more productive, better protected and all around happier with their work environment compared to the hassles of a full PC. Less maintenance for the IT manager as well. No need to worry about infected files or spyware getting installed from inappropriate sites. The iPad also makes for great eye candy when you are doing a presentation.

And while I have my love for my iPad not all is is happy in my iWorld. Currently I am waiting with anticipation for my Camera Kit so I can check out pulling photos and videos off my Sony Camera. Though I am still confused why there isn’t an iWeb App, it just seems so perfect an environment for it. I am just plan annoyed by the WordPress app. It doesn’t allow me the same access to the post options as the web interface does, and of course the web interface doesn’t let me upload images from the iPad. This is the same gripe I have with accessing Facebook on my iPad, I end up having to use the iPhone app to upload the photo and then go thought the web interface to fix any rotation issues. The good news is these are all software fixes. The hardware is incredible and in the hands of someone with the write programming skills anything is possible. Now more than ever, I am itching to get back into programming.

Still the iPad has integrated tightly into my daily routine. From catching up on news, to reading and responding to emails. Also back are the days where I watch C-Net TV during my morning routine, something I use to do with the old ZDTv, then TechTV until it turned into G4tv. I am also reading again and more than before, it’s great to have over 1000 comics, 24 books in iBooks, and all of my Kindle purchases available. Recently I loaded up the Zinio app and now I’ve got a virtual magazine rack right in the privacy of my own iPad. Add in the 10 movies and several CDs worth of music makes my iPad a media power house of entertainment and I haven’t even mentioned the games.

Smart businesses will be looking at how the iPad can be integrated into their daily routines, to either help optimize or cut costs of doing work. The 10 hour battery life is incredible and makes the device at the very least a true Digital Assistant that help co-pilot you though the busiest of days.

They say that the iPad could save newspapers and magazines, and I can see that happening, if they don’t charge too much. I haven’t bit the bullet to check out Popular Science or the Elements interactive book, but I am interested. Just can’t justify the $4.99 or $13.99 price tags. Once I am tired of waiting or they go on sale will determine when I finally pick up these Apps. I am hoping maybe the iPad will bring back interactive TV. Back in 99 I would watch the football game on TV and play this online game that went along with the football game. You would guess the next play and win points and trivia during commercial breaks. I believe they even had a game show that let you play online at the same time. The iPad just begs to be touched while your watching TV. Just think if during the series finally of Lost if you had millions of viewers all watching and interacting with each other, it’s a convincing way to get people to watch live instead of via DVR. Imagine the possible tie-ins during American Idol, Biggest Loser, or even Celebrity Apprentice. No longer are shows going to be tied to just text message interactivity. Sure all this could have been done on a laptop, but that still puts a keyboard and screen between you and the TV, where the form factor of the iPad makes it feel like it could be an extent ion of your TV. A good example is Yahoo! entertainment. It has a great TV schedule that is fun to poke and spin around, if it was setup to talk to my TiVo HD that would be awesome (tap, tap, that means you Yahoo!).

The iPad is incredible and has even more potential with a capital P. I can see why the reports out there are saying that it’s hard to get a hold of a new iPad and even harder to get the 3G version.

I can not stop raving about the battery life. I’ve gotten 10 to 12 hours on each charge and doing my best to drain it down to 1% before plugging it back in for a charge. For now I’m strictly using the mini power brick to charge it back up.

On top of the incredible battery life, the screen is absolutely stunning. I had on my Motorola 820 bluetooth headsets and was checking out Star Trek HD which I purchased specifically to check out on the iPad. I had only planned on checking out a couple of scenes to see the quality and about 1/2 way thru I realized that all that detail just sucked me into the movie.

I have mostly tried to stick with iPad apps, just because I want to see how different developers take advantage of the larger screen. Skype doesn’t have an app so I was stuck using the iPhone version. Using the screen doubler is a little weird with text heavy apps because it gets all pixelated. I prefer to keep some in 1x mode, but then it begs to have four more apps on the screen too . If your looking for a great all in one IM client check out IM+ it gets you into Skype, Facebook, and most other IM systems.

I love that the iPhone 4 system will add multi-tasking, there are times where it will be nice to be able to be in Skype while I’m surfing or reading email. I love how Skype can work just like a Phone should on iPhone 4. Can’t wait for the update this fall.

The biggest complaint I have is there was no heads up that you can’t use the dock while the case is on. Which after having the case on for a few days I see why you won’t need both. The case surprising works well for what appears to just convert the iPad into a cheese wedge. It actually makes it easy to hold in landscape by use my hand into the wedge. It’s also nice to be able to have the case sit the screen up right. It made watching Dune on Netflix incredible. Luckily Apple was understanding and issued me a refund, I wanted to trade up for another case so we have two, but they were out of stock so I’ll either have to order one from the store or check out the other alternatives.

I picked up a copy of Layers and after I got past the annoying in app purchase to get the full version I love this App almost as much as I love the Netflix app. This is just the basic things I’ve wanted from Photoshop, some nice brushes, a smudge tool, layers and the ability to send it to Photoshop on the desktop. This App just made the iPad my new digital sketch book. Now I just need to pick up a Pogo stylus because while drawing with my finger is fun, it feels more like finger painting than drawing

So all in all the iPad is at least for me a net book killer. I loved the portability of the net book but that was about it, their wasn’t enough horse power and it’s odd screen made reading documents difficult. The iPad is much better at not just consuming websites and media but also documents. It’s so nice to have this dynamic form factor that can provide the onscreen keyboard or a full screen experience if you use a Bluetooth keyboard. And I recommend that you get a Bluetooth one over the keyboard dock. That gives you more flexibility of having the screen landscape or portrait where having the dock restricts you. I also like that the keyboard and screen are apart to make it comfortable based on where I’m at.

But don’t get me wrong, even with the on screen keyboard this is very usable. I mean I did type this whole thing on here . It won’t replace my MacBook obviously because I can not work on webpages, or write apps but this is sure one heck of a way to keep up on news, information, entertainment, comics, games, ect. This is really is a whole new step forward in interfacing with the computer. I’ve always said I’m a pixel pusher, now I’m literally pushing pixels with the iPad. If you’ve got an Apple store or Best Buy near you, check out the iPad. You really aren’t going to understand until you get your hands on one and really start to work with it.

A friend asked me the other day, is the iPad a computer? Well the short answer is yes, but not like any other computer out there. This computer won’t run your off the shelf software in that sense. But that’s because you don’t have to go anywhere to get software, you don’t have to worry about if it will work or not you just have to tap a few icons type in your password and the software you requested gets installed. No need to deal with serial numbers, no worry about loosing the cd, and no limits on the devices you can install them on. At the same time it’s almost a reset to the playing field. Example the top app I’m using for drawing isn’t by Adobe, it’s by a small developer. Microsoft Word is $79 where Pages is $9 (I know it’s not an Apples to Apples comparison) but even on the Mac all of iWorks is $79 and iWorks is much nicer than Microsoft Office.

Here is a another way to think of it, the iPad is the EPCOT of Apple’s version of a digital mega resort with iPod Park, Laptop Land, and Desktop Heaven. Apple keeps it locked down to keep you in the “experience” just like Disney wants to make sure you have a great day at their park, Apple wants to keep you the end user happy with the way you interact with the system and they don’t want anyone else to ruin it for you. Where other devices that are going to try and take on the iPad are going to be like Universal Studios which is full of shops of brands from all over the spectrum. But everything funneling through Apple helps them maintain a level of Quality Control. While I don’t always agree with such a locked down system, there are times when I do need that freedom and that’s why it won’t completely replace a laptop.

But I digress the only complaint that I hope Apple will resolve one day is needing a computer to set it up. I think it would be great to someday be able to order an iPad for someone and have that be their sole system for interface the web and connecting with family and have is be a simple set of basic steps of taking it out of the box to start using it. Until then, it’s a great device that’s just going to keep getting better. Starting with an upgrade this fall that I just can’t wait to get my hands on.

What can I say. This thing just blows my mind away. It’s an evolutionary step forward in computing, just as adding the GUI and mouse was to the computer. This goes back to the classic Apple saying of ‘Think Different’.

Currently I’m typing this up in Notes, with my bluetooth keyboard and as I stare at the screen of the iPad in landscape mode I’m drawn to notice all the fine details that they put into the interface. It looks just like a notepad in a leather case with a white notes lies on the left. These are all the fine point details that really help sell the iPad. Granted I am typing this review on a real keyboard, but that’s not because I don’t like the virtual one. In fact I really love the virtual one, but it takes up part of the screen. While having the bluetooth one paired up that is automatically turned off, really nice too because it gives me more real-estate on the screen to work with. It also provides me the opportunity to use the arrow keys for navigation quickly through the text for any kind of edits, changes or corrections. The nice thing is the standard command-c and command-v keystrokes work as expected.

Back to the iPad, while working with it at home it worked flawlessly, connecting directly to my local network after going through an initial setup syncing to my MacBook. I have to say I am a little disappointed that you have to have a computer to set-up the iPad. I’m hoping one day that it will be a simple off the shelf purchase that won’t require a system to get it setup. But I digress while the iPad is an amazing device it isn’t perfect. I personally don’t really mind that it’s missing flash, especially with the last minute announcement of the NetFlix App to make up for any additional viewing content that would otherwise be missing. Add Hulu and Amazon’s VOD and I’ll be in hog heaven. Though it is nice that ABC and CBS are starting to put their shows in HTML5 so that it can be viewed on the iPad and other non-flash systems.

So far I’ve only purchased two apps, Comic Zeal 4 which if you can’t tell from the name is a Comic Book reader for CBR files you might already have. The second app was the Autodesk Sketchbook, which is great, now I just need to get one of those iPhone stylus ordered and I should be good to go. I have loaded almost every news app out there, BBC, NPR, USA Today, NYT and WSJ. They all work a little different but you can see some really innovative ways they bring you a digital newspaper. I’m looking forward to picking up a couple of Magazines too and check out what they have in mind, I saw the preview for Wired and it looked really smooth and elegant.

iBooks is another step above the rest. I also loaded the Kindle App thinking it would be on par with iBooks, but it’s just not. Don’t get me wrong it works well enough but with the elegant page turns. I’ll have to decide if I’ll be purchasing my books from iBooks or from Amazon. Buy getting them from Amazon I can still load them on my Kindle or my iPhone/iPods as well as the iPad. Though I’m sure that Apple is working on an iBook app for their other devices as well.

Currently there isn’t a Slingbox iPad app, so I was left with loading up the iPhone/iPad version with size doubling. It wasn’t bad, we were able to watch an episode of Melrose at the hospital on their WiFi, which was a little more difficult getting connected too for some reason. All in all it looked ok considering. I’m excited that once the iPhone/iPod app for Netflix comes out I won’t have to use the Slingbox to my HD Tivo to get Netflix on those devices.

I’m a little disappointed the my case and dock didn’t arrive, and from what I’m reading they can’t be used together. Which means I’ll have to take it out of the case to get it on the dock. I’ll have to figure all that out once it arrives next week. I do have to say that having the bluetooth keyboard really helps sell the idea that this can replace a net book. I know I’ll get some flak for that because some people really love their net books, and they do have more storage, more options for external storage as well as Flash support yada yada yada. With that being said, I can hardly run Hulu on my net book. Now it’s an HP Mini from last year, but still it just doesn’t have the horse power to do much of anything except monitor Skype for me and occasionally I pull up Facebook to check message on it since it’s apart from my regular working desktop system. The really nice advantage of the bluetooth keyboard is how I can place the iPad in a perfect place to view while having the keyboard in a comfortable and more ergonomic placement.

I could go on and on about all the cool features, but the real thing to do is visit your local Apple / BestBuy / Authorized Reseller and play with it hands on. If you are someone who wants/needs something to use to read/write mail, check the news and play some games, then the iPad is surly for you. If your concerned about the lack of keyboard I highly recommend getting a bluetooth one. Of course the best one I’ve used is the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, and once I got it un-paired from my MacBook and Mac Mini it was a breeze to setup and I must say works fabulously.

My original plan wasn’t even to pick up the WiFi version and go directly to the the 3G one, but I just couldn’t wait any longer and I didn’t want to miss out on the experience of being one of the early adopters. I figured once my 3G does arrive I could put this bad boy on eBay to recoup a little back. But at this point it looks like Ma will want to get her hands on this one once I get mine. I’m so glad I did, already my mind is racing with ideas on how this device could be a benefit to business and help get things done more efficiently. I’m still debating on picking up the iWork apps, Pages, Numbers and Keynote, however I don’t do much building of presentations and spreadsheets as much as I use to. But they just look so fun to work with, who knows.

I’m sure the next version will have a Camera there are times where I’m really annoyed that they didn’t have one, in the initial version. Maybe they didn’t want to take off more than they could chew, or they want to save some stuff for iPad 2.0. My guess is that this year they will finally add camera to the iPod, if they don’t I doubt that this stage i’ll upgrade it. Currently my iPod touch works as my PDA it’s the perfect size and is thin and light enough to fit into my shirt pocket the iPad certainly is not. If they do add a camera to either device I hope it’s actually two, a forward facing one for video calls and one the back for taking pictures. Only time will tell.

I’m also hoping that their will be an iWeb app for the iPad. I’ve loaded up an iWeb over at http://www.astralplain.com just in case they do. Once I get the camera kit I think it would be great to be on vacation. Spend the day loading up the camera with pictures and videos then pull them into the iPad and updating my website without having to touch a computer. Though that’s in a perfect would we’ll see once I get the kit how well it will work, and if I’ll be able to pull the video clips of my Nano into the iPad. Of course that then brings up the, once I have video on the iPad can I do anything with it? Could I do some basic editing like on the iPhone 3GS?

As I continue to explore the possibilities with the iPad I can’t help but wonder if we’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg. It’s like when I first started surfing on my iPod. I’ve been saying if they made a larger version then they would have a device that most people could use without the confusion of a full fledge computer for people that have trouble with them (aka Ma). And the best part is, the possibilities are almost endless I can’t wait to see what developers come up with on a system with this much power behind it. It also make me wonder how long down the line Apple will drop Intel and start making their own processors for their systems. The A4 could just be the start.

How about you? Did you pick up an iPad? If so which apps did you get? If not are you thinking about it? As usual comments are always welcomed.

The iPad WiFi version gets a 4.5 out of 5 L’s a couple dings for no 3rd party multi-task. I would like to be able to login to Skype and continue surfing or working and not worry about missing a message there. But if the rumors are true, 3rd party multi-task might be coming in the 4.0 release, whoo hoo.

Now, is it freaking late April yet? I’m hoping the iPad doesn’t arrive on Alganon’s Official Launch day. Though if it does while I’m working I’ll just have it sync up my comics with Comic Zeal .

Well part of the silence is cause I’m doing mobile updates on Facebook, need to get these all linked up better some how.  But also because I’ve been chilling on picking up devices so that I can get my hands on Apple’s latest iPad.  Of course I was up early March 12th placing my order like every other FanBoy (okay I finally admitted it – more on that in a sec).  I went all out thinking just getting the 3G version will be enough and with my 32gb iPod touch almost full I thought it best to get the 64gb version.

I was doing fine waiting until late April for mine.  Until last night, something came over me and I just couldn’t help it, I didn’t want to miss out on the first day hysteria, and I saw that if I placed my order I would still get it on April 3rd.  Now I don’t know if they just let you order until 1 week before launch to get it ON April 3rd or if they are running low on the first round stock, but this morning when I woke up and started browsing my morning blogs I read that orders as of today are SHIPPING by April 12th.  So I was lucky enough to get in under the door before it slammed shut on the launch day pre-orders.

Now to my newly admitted, FanBoy status for Apple.  I was just bitching a month ago to a friend of mine, “I’m not paying $500 for a phone.”  referring to the Nexus One screw job of not letting it be subsidized even though it was sold (only at the time too) for my provider (T-Mobile).  Yet here I was shelling out over $1,000 for two iPads that I haven’t even held in my hand.  So I have to admit I am a FanBoy of Apple.  This of course doesn’t mean that I follow blindly, I still haven’t jumped onto the AppleTV bandwagon.  For TV I’ve been a big TiVo fan until the most recent release, I’m just not impressed with the latest revision (at least not enough to think it will save the company).

So what will I do with two iPads?  Well there are a couple of options, Matt and Ma have a hard time with the GPS (Ma actually arges with it) and the screen of an iPhone is too small.  So they could use one to find things they need to get to, and when they get lost the little blue dot can tell them where they are vs where they need to be.  I may have one just for development, or for >cough< jailbreaking.  I’m hoping maybe there will be an App to help my Ma with her English, but I figured worse case I could always pop the WiFi one on Ebay after my 3G comes and see what happens.

Oh hey wait, there WAS one post that is missing, my review of the Lennovo Tablet, I’ll have to find my back up and restore that.  If you thought that was going to compete with the iPad you are SOARLY mistaken

I know it doesn’t have the multi-process, and I’m bummed too.  And once I get my hands on it, I’ll be putting it though the paces.  Here is the beauty of this device and why I think it’s a home run.  It’s simple to use.  I know it’s not as revolutionary as the iPhone/iPod touch when they launched, it’s just bigger.  Well yes it’s that and more, and sides you can’t keep re-re-re-revoultionizing something.

Look here is a perfect example, I got Ma a Netbook, I loaded Windows XP on it and it works fine and dandy, she uses it for Skype and thats about it.  She doesn’t have the patients to wait for it to do anything and she just doesn’t use it for anything else.  However when she has her hands on my iPod touch she plays UNO, Slots, and Solitary and could do Skype.  She could do more if it were larger and she could read it, I’m hoping thats the case with the iPad.

Apple is very smart expanding these devices and opening up the internet to people that wouldn’t maybe other wise have it.  I could see some people I know that would only have an iPad, just like they only have an iPod.  And with the possibility to have it’s own internet connection with no contract that’s pre-paid just opens up the potential customers.

And the best part for Apple, they are all in their ecosystem.  So any movie, tv show, music, book or app you buy thought the device comes through the simple iTunes account.  Sure there are cheaper alternative routes you can take, but most won’t go through the hoops.

The best part for iPhone/iPod touch users, everything you’ve already purchased (at least App wise) will work on the iPad.  Which means once mine arrives I’ll have a 9.7 inch SlingBox monitor to carry around. .

Ever since I have my Sony Tablet System in 2001 I have dreamed of this photo. When the first iPod touch came out and I had it in my hands I predicted that something like the iPad had to be in the works.  And all of that was before the AppStore craziness and there were only webapps.  Are there any webapps even around any more?

And the price point?  Higher than I wanted, but lower than I expected.  I was really hoping they would have a $399 version, but that would probably mean it would be an 8gig version and there really isn’t much point in that on a device like this.  I easily fill my 32 gig iPod touch, so since I’m getting the 16 gig I’m going to have to ‘hold back’.

I’ve signed up to be notified when I can sacrifice my bank account to the Apple ordering system and once I do I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

59 days and counting…

Sent from my iPhone

Now these aren’t Bose speakers by any means, but they do the job.  For my semi-daily bike ride (okay more like monthly) these are great to have.  I don’t feel like I’m going to miss out on anything important I need to hear (like a car) while I’m out biking and yet it’s just loud enough for fellow riders to enjoy.  This would have been another great thing to have while we were on vacation and wanted a little mood music.

So if your looking to have some portable speakers and have your hands free, check out the Sound Walk.  This was the perfect solution to the problem we were looking to solve, so it’s getting a rare 5 out of 5 Ls.

You can pick up the Sound Walk from Unicsen, be sure to tell them Bily sent ya

I really wish I had this Nano and case for the Disney Vacation as the Flip cams were mostly forgotten while we were there.  The ONLY drawback to the case is that while I’ve got the AV Cable connected I have to take the Nano out of the case.  But all in all I love the Nano 5G and the SwitchEasy Capsule Thin Clear has got to be the best case out there for it.

The Capsule Thin comes in Colors, Clear and Ultra Black (which to me looks like it really darkens the screen) and are available directly from SwitchEasy for $19.99 plus shipping.  I give it 4 out of 5 Ls

First City Center, WOW. MGM/Mirage decided to take a different approach, instead of bringing a destination from some where in the world to Vegas, they chose to make there own mark into the Las Vegas skyline. The six new skyscrapers they have added are unbelievably cool curving pillars of glass and steel that stretch high into the sky. Though from what I’ve heard the Harmon only topped out at 28 stories down from the 49 it was originally schedule to have due to construction problems. It does end up looking like the runt of the litter, and the one they splash the Elvis show advertising on. Which is really to bad, I really like the blue tones they used to color the building’s windows.

You almost feel bad for the Monte Carlo as it’s ivory tower simply pails in comparison to all of the shiny reflective surfaces of the City Center. For the main resort Aria they have taken the Wynn type curved wave and made it an X with spectacular views from all around. The walk down the hall to our room just begs you to walk to the end so you can check out the view. They have managed to place Aria in such a way that you can view up and down the strip, but even from our room we could see Planet Hollywood on the Strip and the Rio which is a ways off.

Now this is going to sound odd, but the customer service was excellent, exceptionally professional, at times a bit odd, and yet very cold. I’m not a big spender when it comes to hotel rooms, the only other time I’ve stayed in anything I would equate to Aria was Wynn, and that’s because they seemed to have gotten us confused with high rollers and offered us a free room for a weekend. An error they quickly corrected when the next offer they sent was for $150 a night . But back to Aria, they were exceptionally kind by letting us check in early. We arrived at 5am Vegas time which was perfect, there wasn’t a soul in site which translated into no lines at the check-in counter. There was one single front desk attendant, he was very professional and kind. Though there was this hand gesture he did as he handed over everything, and I mean everything. It’s like he rolled it out of his hands and into mine, it was interesting the first time, but when it came to the Credit Card, ID and room map it got to be a bit much. Maybe it’s something fancy that I’m just not accustom to, regardless it was harmless and gave Matt and I something to chat about as we wandered through the surprisingly dark wood themed casino. The walls and decor ooze money, from the bakery with high shinny silver steel curved room separators painted to look like they were made of sugar.  With colors that made you think that you could eat right through it. To the deep gold colored tree trunks that stretch into the ceiling whose branches radiates across the casino blending into the wood theme throughout.

After stepping off the elevator on the 22nd floor we started down the sleek curvy hallway and admired the decor, commenting on some of the one that looked like blurry colored digital dots.  As we approached the end of the hall and near our room we had to walk to the end to peer out pass the glass to observe the incredible collection of lights that reflected perfectly off the shimmery reflective surfaces of the different buildings that they radiated from though out City Center.  The view was awesome.

Then we walked to the room.  Even the lock was a little different, instead of inserting the card you simply wave it in front of the “lock”.  As we opened the door and took the first steps into this mini luxury abode, the room came to life and greeted us by flicking on the lights, turning the TV on and opening the black out and shear covering on the window.  As the blinds curled back and Vegas peaked in we were in awe of the view.  Even though the building next to us, (which we think is the Cosmopolitan) was incomplete the view was breath taking.  Looking out to the right we could see Planet Hollywood and even sit and watch the huge LCD screen splashed across the front of their building if we wanted to.   Or we could look to the left where the other branch of Aria reflected back the lights from the strip.  The floor to ceiling windows went across the room with a bend to the right, I’d guess a good foot or two.  The pictures can not do the view justice.

This isn’t your average Hotel room, though Aria would like you to believe this should be the new standard.  When the TV turned on it went to a custom menu setup just for Aria, it has my name, the room number and notifies you if the dead bolt and privacy settings are turned on.  You have a couple of options to control the room.  You can use the TV interface with the sleek black remote that lights up when you move it.  The touch control panel that doubles as your bedside clock, or via various panels through out the room.  Though if you flip the wrong hard switch you won’t be able to control it via the room system.

The bathroom lights of course can be controlled bedside by the same system, or through the panels on the walls.  The tub was a great big soaking tub that you enter though the pass thru shower.  And I am assuming that because the building is the largest Leed Gold award building in the United States that the water pressure is set to the optimal which isn’t the strongest but still works well.

The deep rich colors of the casino are reflected in the rooms decor.  A very nice built in work station, fresh with connection for most modern devices.  In fact it had an odd iPod/iPhone connector that leads us into an interesting story.  This being a new property, I figured it would have a way for me to connect my iPod into the system.  However this connector was one I had never seen before.  Of course I had to know so I called down to the front desk, which will repeatedly become an annoying theme throughout our stay at Aria.  After about 10 to 15 mins on hold they were unable to answer the question, but no problem they would pass me on to engineering, simple enough as I sat on hold for another 10 to 15 mins until I was told they would send a tech up to help us out.

Enter the maintenance man.  He was trying to explain to me that I should be able to connect my iPod, iPhone ect via USB to the system.  ”Oh Really! Wow I’ve never heard of that” I proclaimed.  Of course that didn’t work, there was no video or audio transferred to the screen.  But there was still that odd connector.  So since he admitted that he didn’t know but wanted to know, we were willing to go on the journey of learning together with him.  He called down to his “tech support” and while I only heard his half of the call, I’ve been through plenty of tech calls to understand how the conversation was progressing.  They covered the basic, including ‘reseting’ the room to the point that all the lights were turned out and the blinds were closed and we sat in the dark, waiting for guidance to come from the other end of the telephonic device that was our lifeline to understanding.  The maintenance man then stepped into the entry where the room once again came to life as if it were the first time we walked into the room.  None of this helped the situation of course, and they didn’t have an answer better than, we don’t support the iPod/iPhone connection, but they would do some research and if they came up with something they would leave me a message.  Translation into regular folk english, “Hell if we know, sorry dude your shit out of luck.”

But we weren’t there to hook that up, so after the maintenance man politely left, we explored the rest of the system.  Not only does Aria have picture perfect signals to every channel, in what feels like a private cable system they provide with widest selection of channels to watch that I’m aware of in Vegas (including a channel that pulls the arrival departure screens directly from the airport).  Typically the resort wants to give you a few basic channels to encourage you to spend more time in the casino, but Aria had just about every channel we typically watch at home there and in HD.

The room was a technical marvel, however with the latest cutting edge come some new problems, in the middle of the night the phones started flashing like we had a message however there was no dial tone.  Our original plan was to maybe check out the buffet but when we read reviews that it wasn’t the best we thought we’d use the resort credit we received for room service, but with the phones not working that wasn’t an option either.  So we headed down to check out the cafe.

Cafe Vettro was the only thing open by the time we got around to actually eating our dinner.  Though I wasn’t feeling well so we mostly enjoyed the view and took the food back up to our room.  Everything at Cafe Vettro is organic so that’s a plus when you aren’t up to par.  Again the staff was very polite, though I did stump them with a question about being able to by the wonderful robes that came in the room.  Which turned into it’s own little adventure.

So of course the room has robes that were nice, thin and just really cozy to wear around the room.  So I wanted to find out how much it would cost.  Of course I didn’t figure I would actually get the price while we were eating at Cafe Vettro, but I figured they could at least steer us in the right direction.  Of course their answer was to check the Aria gift shop across the lobby.  Makes sense, but when we asked the sales associates there, they said they didnt’ carry the robes and that we would need to contact house keeping.  “Oh!” I thought to myself, “maybe that means ONLY guests can by them right now.” So once we got back up to our room, and the phones started working again I called down to House Keeping to hear some incredible news.  “You can just take them.” said the male voice on the other end of the line. “Really?” I queried.  “Yeah, sure,” was his response.  Well that sounded just TOO good to be true.  So after a few hours of rest and getting ready to check out.  I thought I better double check because if it sounds to good to be true, well it generally is.  Again after several minutes on hold and going around in round in circle between them telling me I have to get them from the Gift Shop.  Eventually, I think it was about 40 mins later, I was able to talk to the head of the Front Desk who said that if I really wanted the robe I could take them and they would charge me $100 per robe.  Insert >Jaw Drop< here.  Mind you if they just simply given me that answer I might have been okay, but after all the hassle they put us through I found it very insulting.  In order to actually get to someone to get me this answer, I made about 5 to 10 phone calls, some via the house phone but after being on hold for 20 mins I called in on my cell phone while on hold on the house phone and got to a manager faster (about 15 mins and still on hold on the house line).  And get this checking out was just about as much of a hassle.  Though it ended up that the system did check us out however it gave us an error on the screen.

All in all we really did enjoy our time at Aria, we didn’t gamble and did enjoyed everything the room had to offer.  Of course that’s those are the exact reasons why other Hotel/Resort Casino don’t offer those amenities.  But that’s part of why we wanted a nice room for Christmas in Vegas.  But now it was Saturday and Christmas was over, it was time for us to move our asses downtown to what we learned was the actual START of Vegas and the first hotel in town.

The Golden Gate hotel is now by far my favorite place to stay downtown.  We might try Four Queens again (we noticed they have rooms that also view the Fremont Experience) and I’m sure we’ll try the Golden Nugget someday, but as of this moment Golden Gate is going to be the first place we check from now on when we’re headed north.  Now let me also clarify a couple of things, the hotel is OLD, in fact it was where some of the first telephone lines were installed.  Wanted to call the hotel?  You’d simply pick up the phone and ask for 1 Fremont.  So keep that in mind when you put together in your head the size of the room.  It was a tiny little hotel with only 4 or 5 floors and two of which face the Fremont Experience.  But I tell you what, the first thing I noticed when we got in the room, a bedside radio with an iPod connector.  Oh sweet heaven finally a place to plug-in the iPod.  Granted it wasn’t connected to the TV, however they did have a nice Flat Panel LCD TV in the room with basic hotel cable and if I had the Apple Composite AV cable (which of course I do now ) we would have been able to watch our own movies at both hotels.

The second best thing at the Golden Gate is their choice of WiFi provider.  Wandering WiFi was an AWESOME service at $5 for 24 hours, and the best thing, it wasn’t tied to any one device.  So I could update my blog on my MacBook, then switch the connection over to my iPod while I was chilling watching TV or the shows out our window.  And speaking of shows, right out our window, WOW.  Here is the KISS performance I filmed hanging out the window (okay leaning).

The staff at the Golden Gate is top notch, Julie was very warm and friendly as she checked us in.  The dinner had great Prime Rib, and the Golden Gate is also the home of the 99 cent Shrimp Cocktail, though these days in order to get that you need to get a point on the Casino’s Club Card.  Which didn’t take us any time at all.  In fact we both popped in $20 into the video poker at the bar, had a couple of drinks and cashed out.  I came out $10 a head and Matt came out $10 even so we came out even, whoo hoo!

So lessons learned this trip, if you’ve got the money, Aria is a beautiful place to stay but be ready to spend out the nose.  Of course this is to be expected it’s a fresh property right on the strip, and they need to pay for the 8.5 billion dollar price tag that came with all of that luxury.  But if you’re looking for a really good down to earth time, where you’re entertained by some great performers and some incredible light shows that isn’t going to take a big bite of the bank account, head down to Downtown Vegas.  And if you want to put some icing on top, be sure to stay at the Golden Gate and get the Fremont View, it’s probably one of the only places in Vegas with windows that actually open too.

Oh yeah and the other lesson as I mentioned earlier, bringing the Apple AV Composite cable (that I now have) would have been great for reviewing photos and movies that we captured while on the trip as well as given us our own commercial free entertainment while we were chilling in the hotel room.

So all in all it was the best Vegas trip we had in a long while.