Price is not the only thing we lost. In this process we lost a lot:

-Compatibility with PS2 games
-Sensitive buttons
-The ability to install other OS
-USB ports (from 4 to 2)
-Multi card reader
-Rotating PS logo
-Vertical standing
-The high tech high quality look (you can check this thread: http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=83243&page=1)

We have come from a high tech, high quality machine to a "Chinese" one. I'm glad I have the first model.

While I think the new model does look good (better than the fat, and the 360 IMO ), I must agree with the sad news of the losses and am glad I've got a early model too.

HOWEVER, not many used the Linux option afaik, and the loss of the card reader and ports can be compensated for by USB hubs and USB multi-card readers anyway so not too great a loss. Also, I wouldn't feel bad if I had to buy another PS3 for whatever reason and could only get the slim. Mostly, I'd miss the partial PS2 compatibility, but I must learn that those games are in the past and that I should move boldly into the FUTUR3.

is it missing wifi? because i can't find anywhere which says it has it.

don't worry, 802.11 IS wifi, so no loss there. it's still not "n" capable, but afaik "n" is not an official standard yet anyway.

Hey, what you pay for is what you get. People wanted cheap and cheap is what we got. The slim itself even looks cheap...perhaps to prove a point lol. Even the PS logo looks fake as it is white and not red, yellow, green, blue

The slim does have wi-fi.

-Compatibility with PS2 games
-Sensitive buttons
-The ability to install other OS
-USB ports (from 4 to 2)
-Multi card reader
-Rotating PS logo
-Vertical standing
-The high tech high quality look (you can check this thread: http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=83243&page=1)

Of all of those things, the ones that is lost in the slim rivision over the last fat one is the:
ability to install other os.
rotating ps logo (maybe ? is this confirmed?)
high tech look of the fat one.

Now the slim adds
40 gigs ekstra.
less power consumption
less heat (only bad if you used your ps3 as a radiator)
and it's smaller. Smaller means more tightly packed which also means that it should be more robust.
And it's also easier to bring to other peoples places.

You win some you loose some.

didn't 80G already have only 2 USB ports and axed a number of card readers? Setting console vertically is bad for heat dispersion in theory right? rotating logo and high tech looks are losses indeed......isnt BC suppose to be the thing that keeps up the hype of new firmwares ?( lol....?!)

Sony built a fancy console but people just dont want it, they dont really have a choice but to take a new approach I suppose. * sighs *

I have the very first model of the PS3, and while it is a shame that things have been lost, it is all for the good of the console since otherwise they would not have been able to get to this price-point this quickly!

I personally only ever use 2 USB ports at a time, one for the Playstation Eye and the other for either wireless Singstar Mics or charging a controller, so 2 is ample (in terms of my usage)

@ staude: you forgot to mention support for BRAVIA Sync, allowing control of the PS3 Slim over HDMI, and that it will run quieter than previous PS3 models.

This and the $100 savings.