[u801e]

I have the "Message Body As" setting set to plain text. This either will display the text/plain part of the message or will render the HTML using plain text markers (* * for bold, / / for italics, _ _ for underscore).

IME, it works out rather well for most HTML emails I receive.

[JensRex]

In which email client? I regularly get email that is almost impossible to read, unless I load remote images.

[u801e]

In Thunderbird. Most of the HTML email I receive is mostly formatted text which Thunderbird's plain text view works well on.

Are the problems you're describing due to content within the images themselves, or due to placement of the text relative to the image?