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| Thread ID: 129114 | 2013-02-03 22:09:00 | A tip if you're buying prescription glasses for the first time | BBCmicro (15761) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1326374 | 2013-02-03 22:09:00 | After using the Expensive Machine to set your distance vision, the (inexperienced) optometrist will probably ask you to nominate a reading distance . Don't answer! It's the wrong question . If you must answer, tell the optometrist that you want to read at all distances . If they want you to be more specific, tell them you read fine print close up and larger print further away . If they get annoyed, ask if you can borrow a few pairs of bifocal glasses (plano at the top, various powers at the bottom) for a few weeks and you will come back and tell them which is best . If they don't want to do that, consider going to a different optometrist . But at no point mention a distance!!! Optometrists can be rather young and therefore they have the youthful ability to read everything . To them, the question of reading distance is a matter of personal preference or convenience . However, for a customer who can't read at all due to poor eyesight, the question of a convenient reading distance is trivial . They just want to be able to read! The question for them is "What size font do you want to read?" The first two optometrists I went to bullied me into giving a distance . I got it wrong and they blamed me and said I would have to buy new glasses . The third optometrist (which they offered for free) was in a hurry and didn't bother with the Expensive Machine . He just used the adjustable glasses and showed me a range of font sizes . I picked the smallest size, corresponding to typical text on a Smartphone, and moved the card in and out until it was right . The optometrist said it corresponded to +2 . 25 (whereas my previous prescription was +1 . 75) . (I then gave him a pair of cheap reading glasses that I had ground down so that I could see over the top, which gave me the best experience at home . He took them away and measured them and found them to be +2 . 25 ie, he had got it right!) So that's my tip - to be added to the very useful discussion on this site a few months ago - Never nominate a reading distance!!! |
BBCmicro (15761) | ||
| 1326375 | 2013-02-04 00:40:00 | I'm sure that Paul.Cov will have an opinion here.... :) | johcar (6283) | ||
| 1326376 | 2013-02-04 00:57:00 | Maybe if you had used a larger font . . . ;) | R2x1 (4628) | ||
| 1326377 | 2013-02-04 01:30:00 | You're looking at things wrong :D | The Error Guy (14052) | ||
| 1326378 | 2013-02-04 01:34:00 | And they say hindsight is 20/20 | Gobe1 (6290) | ||
| 1326379 | 2013-02-04 01:52:00 | Nope, hindsight is not only backward, but one-eyed, so it can only be 20/. | R2x1 (4628) | ||
| 1326380 | 2013-02-04 02:01:00 | You're looking at things wrong :D and you weren't never learnt to write proper ;) |
BBCmicro (15761) | ||
| 1326381 | 2013-02-04 03:33:00 | and you weren't never learnt to write proper ;) Correct, 'wrong' modifies the verb 'looking', so therefore it is an adverb, and should be spelled 'wrongly'. Just thought I'd point out the obvious. :) |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 1326382 | 2013-02-04 04:40:00 | My wife bought a pair of glasses like the one in your pix. Never again. They kept falling to pieces. The next one she got had metal rims. No problems with those.. | paulw (1826) | ||
| 1326383 | 2013-02-04 06:00:00 | I'm sure that Paul.Cov will have an opinion here.... :) Yep, I do have, although I'm somewhat reluctant to go into it. The reality is, anybody needing a reading addition of +1.50 or higher is dreaming if they expect a 'single vision' lens to be OK over a wide range of distances (ie, it might be good on the computer, and not so good for closer reading, or vice-versa. But it won't be bang on optimal for both distances. For 'single vision' lenses, think 'single optimal distance'. The best bet to get around this bind is a lens with some variation from top to bottom, ie Progressive, or Occupational Progressive, designed for a range than spans a metre or more, depending on the design. I always stick a page of print into someones hands and ask them where they like to hold things, and then predict the reading addition. A laptop screen typically sits very near where the hands (and a book) would be, so a single vision lens is usually good for laptop, reading, crafts. However, a Desktop screen is often much further back, and will reguire a weaker Addition, or a variable lens, or the scenario of multiple pairs of differing powers. I got caught out recently, asked a lady where her computer screen sits, and she indicated it was within arms length. She came back with issues, and reported that if she holds a book in her hands and stretched her arms out to their full length that the book still couldn't quite reach the screen, so in this case we'd made things based on poor info at the original exam. We've replaced the lenses for her at no charge, and with issues such as that we like to always offer freebie corrections of our work. I'm a little surprised to hear that other places expected your to pay again. We ditched about $1000 on lenses today sorting out isues for two people, and consider it simply a part of good OPSM service. One reason lenses are dear is to cover the costs of making such corrections. But fianlly, if it was up to me, I'd recommend a varifocal (Progressive) type of lens just about every time, except when the cost of them presents an obstacle, otherwise be prepared to experience restricted ranges, or having multiple pairs of specs. I'd be peeved with anyone who wouldn't indicate where they needed the optimal focus, coz it just makes getting it right even more of a guestimate. Sorry all - too long winded. |
Paul.Cov (425) | ||
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