I would posit that if you live in a humid environment, if you use smaller size media, or larger pot sizes, those side slits may help to give more aeration. If you use water culture, something like that PET method with organic media layered on top, having a few holes might help (I understand that PET normally doesn't have hole to mimic the decaying log environment). For example, you might want a reservoir to decrease watering frequency and maintain moisture, and you might use side slits to avoid it being overly wet. Ideally you might increase e.g. bark size without the side slits to achieve that function, but we don't always have access to arbitrary sized media that we might want. The difference between small and medium bark size might be too much.
I tend to over-pot so I don't mind the super thin side slits that are harder to grow through. What I don't like are the pots with a ton of round holes that encourage roots to grow out and grow back in, making it then impossible to remove. As an over-potter, when an abundance of roots peek out from the slits, I know it's time to repot, so it's not a huge deal. I never wait for it to be unmanageable. However, if I'm growing in coarser media or outdoors where I'm not monitoring it every day, then I go with those regular green nursery pots. Expense is one reason: Larger dedicated orchid pots are rare and expensive. But the other reason is what Ray said, I want to extend the time it takes to dry out.
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