My friends and I are debating on our method of transportation in Las Vegas. Should we A)rent a car; or B)use taxis and public buses?

We left our rental in the hotel lot the entire time. If you are wanting to stay on the strip you can walk, take a taxi or a lot of the hotels have shuttles to hotels further down the strip.

There's no need to rent a car unless you get a really, really cheap deal. Mostly, you'll be walking from casino to casino (that's part of the fun anyway, to see each casino up close) and when you get tired, there are several free monorails connecting the hotels. For places off the strip, taxis will work fine.

We've been a few times, and we found having a car to be a hassle because the Strip is very crowded so it takes a long time to get from one hotel to the other. And while there was plenty of parking at the hotels/casinos, the walk from the parkade into the hotel is long (especially in warm weather where the heat and fumes make it uncomfortable). We took the public bus at night once from Mandalay to Circus Circus, which turned out well: it was cheap and uncrowded. We caught cabs from Mirage to Circus Circus for $5-$8 (depending on the time of day, and it included tip). There is also a trolley bus that stops at the big hotels/casinos. Forget about it...it's really crowded and since there are so many stops it takes a really long time to get anywhere. Since there will be at least 3 in your group, it would probably be easiest to take a cab.

1. Rent a car and you'll save time and money vs a cab (yes the strips crowded but it's very easy to drive the block off the strip and paking for most casinos is off the back)
2. If you plan on drinking a lot, take a cab.

I forgot to mention that we're staying in the downtown area. How would our location have a bearing on whether we should rent a car or take taxis?

Staying on the strip I'd never rent a car unless I was planning to day trips outside the city -- to Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, Red Rocks, etc. But staying downtown, I'd rent a car so I could get out of downtown as easily as possible. There is free parking at all the casinos on the strip, so I'd prefer that to taking taxis all the time.

I believe Bubba gave you some good advice. While I normally stay on the strip, I like to gamble downtown. I almost always rent a car for convenience and to save money. A cab will easily cost you $8-$10 (w/out tip)one way from downtown to strip (slightly more if you go to all the way to end of strip). The only time I don't rent a car is if I'm on business and will be going to a convention at or near the hotel and do not plan on going downtown.

I 've seen some pretty seedy people on the bus at night, to...so if you are a bunch of girls going, I'd rent a car. Be safe, not sorry.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. We decided on renting a car since it would probably would be more convenient for us staying in the downtown area and less costly since I found a good deal on a car. See ya in Las Vegas! We leave in 4 days! Woo Hoo!