They block any real status messages that you want to see, and mostly gobble up Netscape's memory. They are also old, and used too much. No information, it draws your attention, and it can be done without. Keep that in mind. All pages should have a low graphics size.
Graphics take too long to load.
Keep your graphics small, and use them sparingly. A low graphics page can be just as good as a high graphics one. Compress your images, and cut out unnecessary colors. Now they're showing up at sites that depend on images, frames, JavaScript, ActiveX, etc. Sure, they'll miss out on the part of the content that depends on these extensions, but that's no reason to make the site navigation depend on these extensions.