Originally Posted by
jackal
My theory on the smaller bins in the 732s was because of the convertible nature of the aircraft--the bins had to be small enough to fit cargo pallets along the whole length of the aircraft. Since the new 734s are in a fixed configuration, the overhead bins in the seating area no longer need to fit cargo pallets (and I would presume there are no overhead bins in the cargo space).
Yes, that's correct. In fact, you can see that in the 737-200 video on the Digeplayer. They show the rampers pushing the cargo pallets back into position, and the pallets just barely clear the overhead bins.