Same here, I also got my doubts about images not only from a speed point of view but also because I somehow feel it has got nothing to do with a 'normal' search anymore; well that's just me probably ...
I'm also looking a the standard one; there's the
commercial Instant Product Search basic one and the
freebie Dynamic Search mod where we can choose from.
Now we just need to figure out what are the differences i.e. what is best ... any ideas?