TheMadScientist - 4:15 am on Nov 19, 2009 (gmt 0)

I'll throw one more out there, just to pad my post count...

You'll have to test for yourself, but depending on how many images (items) you have to load, you can speed up actual page load time by using less larger images rather than more smaller images, because contrary to what seems to be popular belief, browsers usually stall out on upstream requests because service providers allow for a much faster download rate than upload rate to make their connections appear faster for a given amount of bandwidth.

The average browser only opens 2 requests to a given domain (unless the user knows how and adjusts the settings), so if you have 12 images (slices) and can decrease the number your actual time to display will decrease, because with only 2 connections a browser finishes the first download, then makes another request, finishes the second download, then makes another request, and so on, so your 3rd and 4th images don't even begin to download until another upstream request has been made after the first and second downloads (respectively) are complete...

The overall image size is going to be about the same, so all you really do by slicing is force the browser to make more upstream requests, wait for a response from your server and the delivery of the next file, then complete the download and repeat the process until all the image (or whatever) requests are complete.

I personally won't slice images, because they may appear, on paper, to 'load faster' overall individually, but most of the time making a single request for the same amount of data is faster because you eliminate steps from the process and the overall amount of data transferred is generally the same.

IMO and in agreement with the others who have posted something similar, there is usually something you can do to decrease your page load time without changing hosts or paying more or doing anything more than a bit of research into the best way to structure things WRT speed.

I actually don't remember where I read the information I just posted, but there's a link here at WebmasterWorld to the original source, because a few years ago I followed it... Happy hunting. :) I honestly think it might have been in the supporters forum, but really don't remember or I would post it to back up my statements.

EDITED: I just plain can't type sometimes. LOL. You'd think someone who works with a keyboard would figure out how at some point in time, but it's still a struggle for me on certain days of the week! LOL.