Glasses (and contact) wearers?

[W4GPL]

I've been wearing glasses since I was a young teen.. and in general, my prescription has stayed stable for a long time. But recently, as my body falls apart rapidly, I noticed that with my glasses weren't solving all the blurry words & signs at a distance. So having stocked up a bunch of HSA monies, I decided to treat myself to a trip to the eye doctor.

Being relatively new to the area, I went with the advertising ploys and randomly chose Lenscrafters. The doctor (independent of Lenscrafters though in their office) was excellent. I've never had an eye doctor take so much time with me doing the 'better/worse' stuff. It was tedious, but worth it.

Then the guy who helped me pick out eyeglasses was awesome too. He had me choose 8 frames.. 4 regular and 4 sunglasss.. and then he took me over to a computer that took a picture of me wearing each one of them and it analyzed all sorts of shapes and angles. I was quite blown away.. and then finally when we narrowed it down to the two.. he spent another half hour adjusting them using the same photo technology. Very geeky and very effective. I've never had such a well fitting pair of frames before.. snug and comfortable, very stylish -- they look like they were made for me.

Then came the money talk... holy eyeballs batman. I paid less for my first car -- literally! But I relented because I was so impressed with the service and the quality. And an hour later.. I walked out with my awesome pairs of glasses.. and it's the best clarity I've ever had.

Though incredibly expensive, a service worth checking out.. maybe this particular location (Cherry Creek Mall for our Denver folks) was special, but I'm a believer.

[PA5COR]

Just got new glasses here from a local shop, measuring and new frame and glasses came down to 275 euro, from which i got 75 back from my healthinsurer.

[N8YX]

'DSG's latest set came to around $500 - these being titanium and frameless. Mine are slightly less but have a frame of sorts - and both were ordered with auto-darkening. Ride a motorcycle or bicycle on a brightly lit day and see how much you appreciate that.

[PA5COR]

I hate auto darkening glasses, had them for a few years, but they always stay somewhat tinted even in low light conditions, so watching t.v. you always have a colour tint and it takes time to go from colored back to no colouring, i have tinted prescription sunglasses for that.
Mostly they come with lots of discount buying standard glasses 100 euro extra for the tinted ones.

[n6hcm]

i have two pairs of glasses that, together, would have cost about $1500 if i paid retail. one pair (the complicated pair) cost $600 out of pocket, and the other about $350. the complicated pair are wire frames, polycarbonate lenses, progressive bifocals with transitions and edge polishing. the less complex pair are plastic frames, polycarbonate lenses with transitions. the complex pair are almost like not wearing glasses at all except that now that i have progressive bifocals i need to start wearing larger lenses which are problematic because of my strong rx. i'm nearsighted and the larger the lens means the edge gets thicker ...

so: next year i need to figure out whether i want two pairs of glasses for specific situations or one all-purpose pair ... if the latter then i probably want plastic frames, larger lenses, progressive bifocals.

i used to wear daily-wear contacts but i'm too lazy to put them in each morning. glasses: reach out, put them on, done.

[PA5COR]

Always had glasses, no need for contact lenses, most of my glasses have bifocals for reading and far off sighting.
-1.25 and -1.75 but one has 8 cylinders in it, so i know how thick the sides are ;)
Full rimmed metal spectacles are a must then, found a nice model, and have 1 year warranty on that, but even after that they don't mind fixing a problem for free, since i'm a long time costumer there.

Wearing glases since age 8, now 52 years back, it comes natural get out of bed, shower, get glasses on, clothes on and be set for the day.
Always keeep the old one as spare in the car, with my sunglasses.

[KK4AMI]

I've been wearing glasses since I was a young teen.. and in general, my prescription has stayed stable for a long time. But recently, as my body falls apart rapidly, I noticed that with my glasses weren't solving all the blurry words & signs at a distance. So having stocked up a bunch of HSA monies, I decided to treat myself to a trip to the eye doctor.

Being relatively new to the area, I went with the advertising ploys and randomly chose Lenscrafters. The doctor (independent of Lenscrafters though in their office) was excellent. I've never had an eye doctor take so much time with me doing the 'better/worse' stuff. It was tedious, but worth it.

Then the guy who helped me pick out eyeglasses was awesome too. He had me choose 8 frames.. 4 regular and 4 sunglasss.. and then he took me over to a computer that took a picture of me wearing each one of them and it analyzed all sorts of shapes and angles. I was quite blown away.. and then finally when we narrowed it down to the two.. he spent another half hour adjusting them using the same photo technology. Very geeky and very effective. I've never had such a well fitting pair of frames before.. snug and comfortable, very stylish -- they look like they were made for me.

Then came the money talk... holy eyeballs batman. I paid less for my first car -- literally! But I relented because I was so impressed with the service and the quality. And an hour later.. I walked out with my awesome pairs of glasses.. and it's the best clarity I've ever had.

Though incredibly expensive, a service worth checking out.. maybe this particular location (Cherry Creek Mall for our Denver folks) was special, but I'm a believer.

No, I went to the Lenscrafter at my Mall. I was very happy with the service. I bought a pair of self-tinting bifocals and got a second pair of sunglasses for free (Driving and Fishing). It was a buy one get a second pair for free deal. After I saw the price, I thought they just charged me twice as much for the one pair to make up the difference, phew! The cost of glasses is certainly going up, enough to make me consider laser eye surgery. But I do like glasses. I don't know how many times glasses have saved my eyeballs from injury.

[kf0rt]

We've been pretty happy with Lenscrafters too. Prices are ridiculous.

Saw a short 60 Minutes piece on eyeglasses recently. It's an "eye opener" you might say.

Found it - here ya go:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...roller;housing

[KB3LAZ]

My wife pays 15€ a month for her contacts.

[K7SGJ]

I quit using optometrists several years ago, and opted for an ophthalmologist. More of it was covered under my medical instead of vision. A few years back, she told me I had cataracts, and to keep a close watch on them. None of the eye glass places ever mentioned it to me, and maybe because it wasn't bad enough in their estimation, or maybe because the equipment wasn't as sophisticated, IDK. Anyway, a couple of years ago, she told me they qualified for insurance covered surgery. I opted for multi-focus lens implants which cost a bit of out of pocket $$. The "free" ones would allow you to choose near or far correction, which required glasses to cover the areas the lens didn't correct for. The multi-focus work from reading distance to far distance. I love them. I can read, use the camera, watch TV, and everything else with out requiring glasses. And what a big difference in viewing colors. The only time I need help is when doing really fine work or in low light. Bottom line is, as you age, go to an eye surgeon every so often for a muich more in depth eye exam. They perform a battery of tests that optometrists don't because they don't have all the additional equipment.