Out five RV's, the last three have had slides. I do not boondock on city streets, so I have no worry about deploying a slide. Slide mechanism can be fast (Power Gear) or slow (Schwintek), but none are so slow that that they limit accessibility in less than 30 seconds. We like a compact package when traveling and expand it out when when reach a destination. We travel year round in all kinds of weather, so inside space with comfortable seating was important. We are not full timers and still work full time, so we cannot chase the most desirable weather and take time off when ever work allows. We are more destination campers Than traveling around with the camper - I typically have a trailer in tow with smaller more nimble vehicles that explore the rough off road or towns and cities. We also use the camper as portable hotel when going to venues whether art, music , fairs, rodeos...
If our style of camping was different, we would have an RV that matched it. As it is, our choice works for currently do but is not the solution for everyone. You have think about the RV will be a tool to help you do things that interest you and then select the best tool to accomplish this.
People worry about leaks or mechanical failures. There are better and worse mechanisms when selecting a camper with a slide or multiple slides. I am confident in a couple designs and not with some others. I avoided those where I saw design issues or repeated failure feedback. I can say after three RV's with slides, none leaked the Northwest weather in and none failed with multiple deployments and retractions at each stop.
