Totally agree.
Thank you vimkar, usefull information for all of us.
I have cable also but the second I see "Loading" I start looking for the "skip intro".
When I go to a site I'm looking for something specfic, (item, service, information) and want to get to the Nav as soon as possible. Attractive Home Pages are cool only to the extent they dont distract from why I'm there, to find what I'm looking for.
Designers have to remember also, there are still lots of P2 and smaller P3's that will freeze at graphic overload. It doesnt take much to lock a 32mb or smaller video card, which most of the world still uses.
Trick out if you must, but keep the HP for navigation and text info with links to your "Heavy" pages.
Peace, kp