Its not really a big deal though. Like I mentioned in a simillar post of mine here...

THE HARD DRIVE:
Yes,the 40 gig HD is small. HOWEVER, its a simple 5 minute swap to another.

USB PORTS:
How often do you really have more than 2 people playing your PS3 at once??

MEDIA CARD READER:
Again....no biggie. Put whatever on a cd/dvd

BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY:
I know I didnt buy a PS3 to play PS2 games on it. If I want, i'll hook up the old box.

Other than that, its the same machine as the ones who payed $500+