Vari focals and Desk Tops

[Radio Fixer]

Well I see, from the pics, many of us wear glasses. Just been going thru the latest 2 - 4 year upgrade on specs. Bought a new pair of vari-focals to replace 4 year old ones which are still useful as backups.

Got them made at a small outfit where the guys (a couple at retirement age) really seem to know what they are talking about. They are excellent and crisper than the old ones.

Although the vari’s are the most versatile of all specs I still prefer reading glasses for long reading sessions and close work.

And on the PC, for any length of time, a pair of intermediates (mine are sharp at about 3 feet distance) cant be beat either, for less eye strain and not getting tired so quickly.

Whilst I was in the shop I was told about a new spec for Nerds (well office workers actually) that they were making. I think he called them Desk Tops.

Anyway what it is, is an intermediate at the top and reading at the bottom to your specification. So as I have been doing a lot of Corel stuff and reading “How to books”, at the same time, this sounded a good idea rather than keeping swapping and getting sore ears.

Having a no longer used pair of distance driving glasses, with good frames, I got them to stick a pair of these lenses into those: a cheap way of having a trial. So whats the verdict? Well its No! for me.

They seemed really good in the shops with the charts, and are OK for short term use but much more tiring on the screen for any length of time… 10 minutes and I’m done with them, and I reach for the fixed intermediates.

I had thought that they were a Bi-focal which might have been better but again they seem like a Vari with a very sharp cut between the focal lengths… leastwise I can see no definite line like the old Bi-focals.

Although I drive with the Vari Focals I find them tiring for long journeys, not that I make many of those nowdays. If I did I might just go back to a pair of distance glasses. Seems to me that even the best made Vari’s, although a wonderful invention, still produce subtle distortions. I say best made as I had a pair made for me, by a well known high street store once, and they were truly awful. The side to side distortions were really bad. So bad I couldn’t drive in them… felt like I was going to hit the kerb when taking corners. Got a refund though.

Gary

[Yorkie]

:It's a good point that you make Gary.

I've had vaifocals for years and get on really well with them for most puposes - look ahead for distance, and look down through the lower portion of the lenses for reading. I think think that those who can't get on with varifocals can't get used to glancing down through the lenses, but instead tilt their head to look down at what they're reading, so their eyes are still looking through the distance part of the lenses rather than the lower (reading) part.

Of course, with a desktop computer we're looking right ahead at the screen, more or less at eye level, so we're looking through the upper (distance) part of the lens, which is the wrong focal length for such close-up work. Untill about five years ago I still had a CRT monitor which was a bit 'in your face' about 12" in front of my nose, so I had a pair of 'computer specs' from my optician with that focal length. However, if I got up from the computer I had to put on my normal varifocals or I'd be stumbling around, bumping into furniture! As a consequance, I tended not to wear my 'computer' specs.

For some years now I've had a flat screen monitor pushed right at the back of the desk about 2ft from my eyes, so I manage to get by with my varifocals, given that much of the time sat at the PC is spent looking down at the keyboard as I peck away at it typing. My seating position is such that my eyes are about 12" above the centre of the screen, so I need to glance down slightly, through the reading part of the lenses. Not such an issue with a laptop as I'm looking down at the screen through the lower (reading) part of the lenses anyway.

I usually keep my old specs for working in when I get new ones, but get into the sloppy habit of not wearing the old ones when I'm in the workshop, so inevitably, before long, I end up scratching the new ones with wood dust or whatever, even though I wear safety specs over the normal specs. As my well-intentioned wife says when she nags me for my own good when she catches me misbehaving in this way, 'it's like having a kid in the house' and I guess she's right - she usually is on most things.

[Radio Fixer]

When I worked for a newspaper and spent hours on all sorts of screens and then even more time programming at home I looked into RSI and eye strain etc. As I understand it, sitting normally, your neck should not bent at all, your eyes should fall at the centre of the screen. The keyboard and mouse should be positioned such that the elbows are bent at right angles and the hands naturally fall to them. My chair has arms that the elbows rest upon. Seems to work for me and I have never had any problems.

With these new Desk Top glasses I have to wear them low on the nose so that I look naturally through the top intermediate part... rolling the eyes down to read something is easy and for that they are good... pretty much as good as true reading glasses.

You would probably like them David, if you can get by with full stength vari focals on the PC. They are miles better, in my case, and I dont want to use mine at all for that ... the in focus area is so small its a pain.

Gary

[AlanBeckett]

I just stick to a 'long' pair for driving and the TV and a 'short' pair for the screen and bench.
I've recently bought a Head Magnifier with light.
I hope that covers it for a bit yet.
Alan

[Retired]

Hi,

A very good topic Gary.

Having severe asthma as a child I missed a lot of my early schooling hence I also missed the regular eye tests. I hadn't a clue what glasses were for in those days which sounds stupid now but I missed so much. Aged 11 I finally had an eye test and ended up with school glasses making me automatically into "four eyes".

These glasses hurt my ears but dramatically transformed my world. At last I could read what was on the blackboard at school without having to copy from my friend; on the very first day of wearing them I remember it was a glorious sunny day and the new pebble dashing of the houses blinded me. Whereas previously I had always appeared to be thick at school I came on in leaps and bounds and upon leaving school aged 15 I achieved passes in seven subjects with distinctions in art and technical drawing; I believe the certificate was the forerunner of the modern GCSE.

I now wear bi-focals and although I detest the things am blind without so they are a necessary evil in my life. The cut off is mid way on the lens and I have to tilt my head to read the VDU and I'm forever miss-keying whilst using the keyboard although this is compounded by some glitch in the computer because no way do I make so many mistakes whilst hitting the keys.

I have reading glasses but changing over makes everything seem alien to me and I can't settle with them.

One benefit of wearing good sized glasses is that I can use them to a certain extent as safety glasses in the workshop or garage. I don't like wearing glasses but I really do dislike wearing safety goggles although I have to wear goggles for some processes such as angle grinding.

I will eventually have to change my glasses so would appreciate advice from both you Gary and David as to the best choice; bi-focal or vari-focal? I would never consider wearing contact lens in fact I've heard horror stories about contact lens becoming welded to eyes because of welding flash; has anyone else heard of this?

Kind regards, Col.

[Tedzed1]

I have also bit the bullet and finally realized that I cannot manage without glasses at the grand old age of 47.
I had very good eyesight up to a couple of years ago, or so I thought, but I first noticed problems reading small print on labels
and the world in general did not look so sharp as it used to.

So off I trot for an eye test, and I was diagnosed with astigmatism, and I am now at the stage where I cannot manage delicate work
like reading labels that have small print, or indeed working on a radio chassis without my reading glasses.
I also have a distance pair, but don't really wear them, as being designed for my astigmatism, they make the world look a funny shape,
although things are a little clearer, I cannot drive with them, as it seems like I am sitting low to the floor, as in a go-cart.
so do not wear them very often, as my distance sight is not too bad, I can still easily read a number plate at the prescribed distance.

I also tried Acuview contact lenses, the daily disposable type, I could not get on with them, had two sessions with the optician, until they were
sure that I could fit and remove them correctly, wore them fully for the first time, and do you think I could get the b****y things out at the end of the day, I am sure I ended up scraping my eyeball, also I had to remove them if I wanted to use my reading glasses.

They went straight in the bin.

[pwdrive]

You can tell you need glasses when yer arms arn't long enough to read the newspaper...

Lawrence.

[Yorkie]

I will eventually have to change my glasses so would appreciate advice from both you Gary and David as to the best choice; bi-focal or vari-focal?
Kind regards, Col.

I've worn specs since I was 25 when a company eye test highlighted the need for them. When it got to the point at which I needed specs for long and short distance perhaps 20 years ago, varifocals wrre being promotted as a better alternative to bifocals, partly from an appearance aspect, but more importantly because varifocals overcome the sudden jump from the upper to the lower part of the lens and instead, have a smooth transition. I got on really well with them from the outset and I think that anyone who's managed to get used to bi-focals will find varifocals a big improvement.

I didn't find them hard to get used to, but you have to develop the habit (as you do with bi-focals) of glancing down through the lower part of the lenses rather than looking down by lowering your head. I suppose the best description is 'looking down your nose'. (Some people are able to do that as a normal trait, whether or not they wear specs!)

[Skywave]

I was in my mid-forties when I finally had to accept that my eye-sight wasn't up to the required spec. Initially, all I needed was conventional reading glasses, but as my eye-sight deteriorated quickly from that point in time, and the annoyance of those glasses being of a fixed focal length, soon persuaded my to try vari-focals. The first pair I ever had simply didn't 'work right'; I realised that within 1 day after their purchase. A re-test and replacement pair were just fine. And yes, you do have to train your mind 'to look' in a different way. This, I found, came quite easily to me: others may have difficulty with this re-programming, which may explain some of the difficulties reported by others in some of the above posts. Initially, I was advised to "point your nose at what you want to look at" - and for me, that works: it's now a purely sub-conscious reaction.
Many years have passed from those early days until now - I've used vari-focals ever since and am quite happy with them. However, I have learnt that it is false economy to use price as the over-riding factor when it comes to choice of vari-focals: quality costs; I always buy the most expensive that I can afford - and then, sometimes a bit more; my eyes (like my teeth) are precious to me. At present, a replacement pair of glasses are usually necessary at about a five-yearly interval.

I am a little bit apprehensive as to what the future holds for me, since my father suffered from glaucoma. The up-side of this is that I have always qualified for free eye-tests.

Al.

[Joe]

It's definitely a personal thing. My Dad took to bifocals like a duck to water but, for all that she wore them for twenty-odd years, my Mother never took to them. Like Col it was only when she started school that it was realised that she had a problem.

I was always able to see fine but my eyes used to ache if I read for a long time. When I was on Income Support in 1990, so qualified for a free test, I went to the optician. He said I didn't really need glasses but as I'd get them for nowt I could have them if I wanted.

As I got older the problem seemed to sort itself out; in fact I nicked one of the screws out of my glasses to mend a friend's.

Last year I seemed to be having trouble seeing the hi-res screen on my laptop so, after a hunt, found and repaired my glasses and now wear them when I'm having a long session.

The odd thing is that they were made as reading glasses and used to slightly blur things at distance but now they sharpen everything up. The other thing is that I've lost weight since they were made so what with that and changes in fashion I look like Timmy Mallet. Go on, have laugh:-
   
Rather than 'trombining' I've been accused of trying to feel print with my nose.

As for contact lenses, I'll have white stick first.

- Joe