Meh, it doesn't look bad... but the old version looks much better IMO.

I'm pretty sure Sensei's was a synecdoche.

As for the heating issues, the big ventilation grid on the side seems to be where I expect them given the "leaked" motherboard pictures we've seen around. And from those pictures there would be an integrated Valhalla package (CPU GPU both at 45nm or less) under a single spreader and dissipator. That's probably lower enough in heat generation to not cause major problems on the new motherboards, unless MS fumbles again in some low-quailty building/assembling trouble.

Judging by the size of the DVD tray, this thing seems bigger than the actual 360... 

Yeha, that's kindn of my whole concern with it - iit looks like it comes from the same family as the original 360, which is that i tries to look cool instead of just being a reasonable design. It's too eager to catch the eye and dance around.

I like it but I'm kind of surprised at the look.  This looks more like what I thought the 360 would look like at launch  with a strong PC flavour to its lines and a certain aggressiveness to it.

With the focus on Kinect now I expected something even softer than the current 360 not this.

Judging, as best I can from that image, it's not a whole lot smaller than current 360, just a little neater around the edges and a tad slimmer.

I wouldn't be surprised if the PSU was internal now as well.

Is it an Xbox 360 inside?

It makes me wonder if they haven't pulled a Wii because the only way they'd need a console the same size as the original Xbox 360 relatively speaking if as the leaked motherboard picture suggests they have an external power brick is because they are drawing more power than you'd expect from simply shrunk hardware.

I think he was saying that the leaked photos of the motherboard implied the new system will still have an external PSU.  If that is the case, he thinks it's possible the reason the redesign is still as big as it is is because Microsoft "pulled a Wii" and added a bit more oomph to the 360's hardware.

For all we know it could be even at Wii size. It's about MS did something about its bulky console. I might get one this holiday just for Tales of Vesperia, Star Ocean 4 and Mass Effect.

Yeah. If they were to do it, they'd have to do a total relaunch like GC > Wii.  All the photos imply they're sticking with the Xbox 360 branding, so it's apparent they're not heading in that direction.

If they did, it would basically be starting over.