Do you mainly use anchor() or <a> html tag?

[eluser]ShiverCube[/eluser]
I always try and use the helper functions whenever possible. It allows further extensibility down the track. Phil Sturgeon has also written about why they are so useful. As an example, I've previously extended the anchor function so that it will automatically add a 'rel="external nofollow"' tag to any external links automatically.

Where the anchor function does currently fail, as you noted, is with embedding images. Personally I would try and extend the function to implement the required capability so that my view files are remain consistent and can be more easily maintained.