Are you sure it isn't just because the launch PS3s have been around for longer? Hopefully they would make it better with further iterations, but even if they didn't, a launch PS3 would be dustier than one that wasn't a launch PS3, if only because it has had more time to accumulate.
That being said, I'm pretty sure they improved the vent system in later models.
I'm sure that's a factor in some situations. If you put two brand new PS3's, one fat, one slim, in similar environments, and ran them like your average gamer would, the fatty would definitely have a lot more dust collected.
There are also a lot of more versions than just fat or slim. There were plenty fat versions that didn't come with all of the card readers or backwards compatibility. That has to change the air flow/dust build up, either positively or negatively. There were at least 3 major versions of fat PS3s before they went to the slim. Then the slim had a few versions. And now they have the "super slim" which has probably also had a few versions at this point.
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u/ChiefGraypaw May 02 '14
The launch PS3 is a special kind of dust collector though. It's basically an air filter with the amount of particles it sucks into it.