For those who are freaking out over the extra seven seconds of boot time, consider:
That extra seven seconds the Slim PS3 offers may allow you more time to eat another 10 potato chips, therefore, keeping your Fat PS3 encourages weight loss, as you are denied the extra seven seconds to eat more food, you gluttonous oinker. Get on a treadmill!

/means no offense to oinkers, potato chip lovers, or fellow Fat PS3 owners.

I guess we're supposed to assume that he timed them correctly, meaning that he started them at the same time. I don't see why they would be slower, they don't use different processors so maybe its a hard drive issue? I know I've had variable start up times on my fatty ps3 but usually within a few seconds so I don't know if this is not just an overall PS3 issue rather than a PS3 slim one.

@pecan 3.14159265: fat owners of ps3, or owners of the fat ps3?

@gStein: Both, though I own a Fat PS3 but am not fat myself.

It wouldn't be surprising given the Slim's lower power consumption. Yeah, some of the lowered consumption came from shrinking previously larger (and more power consuming) components but it may not be eating more juice because it's also not running at the Fat's performance level.

Didn't the videos show the PS3 Slim starting up the Batman game FASTER?

As someone who bought a slim PlayStation 3 without first using an original PlayStation 3, I don’t see a problem with the load time. The console is loading from a Blu-Ray disc, so a slow load is expected. However, any perceived difference could be a compromise resulting from the redesigned heatsink.

@PingPongDarts: I thought the same looking at Kotaku vids as well.

HEY GUYS. Check your facts on your article. The PS3 Slim is slowing booting to start the system and running a Blu-ray movie but is faster running the Batman game. You said the game was slower loading on the Slim but its the opposite. CHECK YOUR INFO BEFORE POSTING. I'm not a PS Fanboy, owned the system didn't like it, I'm a 360 Fanboy but you really need to look at what you write before you post.

I can't read the linked article, or watch the video so I'm going off presumptions here.

Do we know the conditions of the individual PS3s? It isn't fair to compare a brand new Slim PS3 with a PS3 that's been used for a year. I would hope that both consoles are out-of-the-box new, otherwise these results can explained by wear and tear.

@pecan 3.14159265: Ugh, that was supposed to be a reply to PingPongDarts.

@pecan 3.14159265: Off topic but wow. A girl that has a PS3, can google her tech problems (I read the tech support thread) and knows pi to 9 significant figures.

So I ask, evil witch or super amazing girl?

IIRC, it's a slower BD-ROM drive in the Slim, which helps to cut costs.

Doesn't the slim PS3 lack backwards compatability?

Runtimes aside, that should be the single biggest detractor. my PS2 is about ready to keel over and die.

@pecan 3.14159265: Isn't that in the old PS3's favor, though? The Fat one is loaded with content but still loads faster than a clean and fresh Slim.

@Ratty: PS3's haven't had backwards compatibility for a LOOONG time, Sony has zero desire to bring it back, and rumor is they're killing the PS2 officially at the end of this year.

@G.O.B.: Come on!: Nevermind. What I said before applies to this video, but you're right about comparing game load times between the two. The fresh Slims may have some sort of advantage because they're not bogged down but user customizations, content, etc.

@dohtem: or my future wife?

@Ratty: So do most of the fat ps3's. Only the original 60GB ps3 had backwards compatibility.

@dohtem: Fun fact so you can be cool, too.

Get 8 significant digits of pi with this mnemonic:
May I have a large container of coffee?
3 1 4 1 5 9 2 6

The number of letters in each word corresponds to the digit.

If you're polite, you get two more digits.
Thank you.
5 3

There are other mnemonics that can take you to 12 digits, but I can't always recall them as easily as this one.

You got this one not-quite-right, Phil. While startup is slower, the slim actually loads Arkham Asylum faster.

@Applekid: You are bringing out the geek in me :)

This is pretty common mnemonic for remembering pi to 15 significant figures - "How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics."

@narc1: they do have different processors. the cell in the old design is a 95nm process the one in the slim is a 45nm process. same basic design but shrunk and changed to generate less heat and run on lower power.

@G.O.B.: Come on!:

Do you think I care about power consumption in this six-thousand dollar suit? Come on!

I'm sorry, but you simply have the best screen name.

@dohtem: Technically, Mr. Pi owns the PS3 as well...and he plays it far, far more than I do.

"In fairness, these videos aren't definitive proof that the new PS3 is slower. Some videos even show the new PS3 is faster than the older one"

So I'm right back to where I started

Back when the PS2 came out with their "slim" version, the specs said it was identical to the older version, but the actual performance was very different from system to system. Particularly with GTA San Andreas and Gran Turismo 4, which played fine on some of my friends systems, and not at all on others. That level of inconsistency was why my friends & I switched from ps2 to xbox, and now have xbox 360s.

@jezebelseven: Well, that's about the last time I paid much mind to them.

Seems ultimately worthless to have to sacrifice such a large library with a replacement that won't even work with the older format like it should.

@jezebelseven: I believe only the original 60GB had *true* BC, as in it actually had the hardware to play PS2 games straight from the disk. Other versions had BC, but did so through emulation, which loaded the games into software on the PS3 that allowed them to play.

Either way, the fat models available at the moment I don't believe have BC.

So does this mean it will be slower at collecting dust that clogs the vents? ;-)

NSFW alert: The linked site is definitely not safe for work. Watch out, folks.

@PingPongDarts: Yes. The consensus was that it loaded Batman faster, but booted to the XMB slower.

@jezebelseven: The 20GB models also had it.

Thanks for the heads up about the NSFW anime porn link, Phil. I'm going to love having a conversation with the network admin at work about why I was trying to access the site.

@pecan 3.14159265:

Thing is, I don't snack or eat when I game. I go 4-5 hours straight, eat something in 10 min, then back to it.

@bigd7387: Actually, the article takes pains to note that loading times may vary.

@dohtem:
Sir, I bear a rhyme excelling
In mystic rites and magic spelling
Celestial spirits elucidate
All my own striving can't relate

@treimel: I'm just worried that you might be alienating the other commenters.

im glad i sold my phat and swapped for a slim, its much quieter. cant even tell when its on.

Careful, the slim uses a different firmware than the other (older) PS3. Today, the latest firmware for both came out (3.0), I suggest you wait for a comparison with both machines running that firmware.

Also, lol, Sankaku Complex.

If slower booting means it doesn't burn through your carpet then I'm all for it.

So we have a Wii, an Xbox, a PS2, & a PS3 and DS (plus Vectrex, but that's actually mine, so I count that less). I just assumed everyone lived like this. Apparently people differentiate and go with one console or the other. Wow. Interesting. I'm an academic and my friends just generally have none of the above, so this is informative.

disclaimer: boyfriend is in video game industry, hence the consoles. We are not generally that game obsessed just randomly.

@bigd7387: Starting your comment on a rant and then ending it with "oh btw... I'm not a Fanboy... (add. Fanboy argument)" instantly identifies you as a Fanboy regardless of what you say otherwise.

@Lokys: of course.

Sorry, that's as far as I memorized it on my own. Without mnemonics. I was really, really bored one day. (See, we didn't have the internet, and portable gaming meant Mattel games.)

@pecan 3.14159265: could you convert that to Cheez-Its, please?

I noticed this same thing after the first Wii system update - that booting up the Wii into the main interface took at least 6s longer than when I first bought the machine. Nobody seemed to care a the time though... I suppose I'm impatient.

I want a slim soo bad but I am still playing unfinished ps2 games on my 80G PS3 =(
I guess when and if my PS3 dies then I can get a slim.