# Help with first pair of glasses **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047 "2021-02-16T15:28:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/21 "2021-02-17T02:41:16Z")
Another (relatively) cheap option; if there’s a Warby-Parker store near you, you can get eyeglasses with progressive lenses for $295. And a qualified person will do the measuring and fitting. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/22 "2021-02-17T02:43:43Z")
Check out the “Mutifunctional lens” on this Costco website page. It has a very large and wide functional area for computer use, with smaller close (keyboard) and smaller distance, so like progressives but adapted for computer/viewing. Plus of course they also do traditional progressives, anti-reflective, etc. > **[Costco Optical](https://www.costco.com/optical.html#computer)** > > Find a great collection of Costco Optical at Costco. Enjoy low warehouse prices on name-brand Costco Optical products. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/23 "2021-02-17T02:53:41Z")
I alternate between the same 2 identical frames when I get a new prescription, and get the lenses made at Walmart or Costco for _much_ less money than at most other optical stores, even without insurance. (I have a complicated enough correction that online places aren’t a good option.) ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/24 "2021-02-17T14:48:42Z")
Thanks everyone for all the advice. So, I took the general advice of seeing an optometrist to look over my glasses and discuss things. They charged me $25 to measure my pupillary distance, which seems to have been worth it as it was a bit non symmetric. (30/32.5) It is possible that this might correct for the trapezoidalization of the world I am seeing. The end result is I think that I am going to go with a pair of distance-only glasses and a pair of reading glasses. Progressives seem to allocate far too little real estate of the lens to distance and far to much to reading for my taste. Perhaps in a year I will pick up the vision insurance and get an expensive pair of progressives from the in-person, way-too-fucking-expensive shop ($160 for the “less expensive” frames? What the hell is wrong with them?) that have a much wider corridor, but for now, it doesn’t seem like a great option. > [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Anyway, yeah, online suppliers like Zenni probably aren’t the best choice for the first pair of what sounds like a complex prescription. Sounds like you are unfortunately right. > [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I find that taller lenses help for multifocal lenses like yours (and mine). My glasses are 40mm, and they’re pretty comfortable as trifocals. Thanks. This was originally my big concern, but with single-prescription glasses I think I will keep the shorter height of lens. When I try progressives again I will go to taller one. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > The nearsightedness is corrected with a ‘minus’ (concave) lens. The farsightedness is corrected with a ‘plus’ (convex) lens. Each lens induces its own degree of [**prism**](https://www.aao.org/eye-health/glasses-contacts/what-is-prism-correction-in-eyeglasses), which – when needed – can be used to correct for a misalignment in eyes. It looks like Prism is something for double vision. Thankfully I do not have that issue even when looking through any range of the progressives. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > I don’t know how strong your prescription is (care to transcribe it and post it here, minus personal info ?), but – even at fairly weak levels of correction – better quality lenses can minimize this issue _and_ some of the visual weirdness you’ve noticed. Side Sphere Cylinder Axis Add Pupillary Distance OD -0.25 -0.75 115 +1.50 30 OS PL -1.50 090 +1.50 32.5 > [@JaneDoe42](#): > > So, my advice for you is NEVER use tissue or any sort of paper to wipe your glasses, always use clothe. Using paper will put tiny, fine scratches on the lenses and eventually fog them if you do it often enough. Those lens cleaning kits you see all over really are a good idea. > > Always use your glasses case. Bare glasses left on the nightstand are really easy to knock off and they will always land lens down. Never put your glasses down on the lenses. Your lenses are expensive and you don’t want to scratch or nick them. Thanks! This is just the kind of general advice I was also looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/25 "2021-02-17T14:59:13Z")
> [@flight](#): > > Thanks everyone for all the advice. So, I took the general advice of seeing an optometrist to look over my glasses and discuss things. They charged me $25 to measure my pupillary distance, which seems to have been worth it as it was a bit non symmetric. (30/32.5) It is possible that this might correct for the trapezoidalization of the world I am seeing. What pupillary distance was used for the Zenni prescription? And how did you measure for the temple arm length? Sorry, but the idea of going online for your very first pair of eyeglasses (progressives, even!) amazes me. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/26 "2021-02-17T15:02:53Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > What I will add that’s a little disheartening is that the premium lenses are the only way to go IMO. I tried the Costco digital progressives hoping for a cheaper option, but I have found that as the price goes up, the width of the corridor gets much wider. I hated the Costco lenses and went back to the expensive ones. You seem to be right. I looks like I am going to have to shell out quite a bit of cash when I go to progressives. Ugh. I’m cheap and that is annoying. At least it is for a high-tolerance high-grade material in the lens. Paying stupid amounts for the frames themselves irks the hell out of me. > [@eschrodinger](#): > > But most importantly, I agree with everyone saying you need assistance from in-person pros. Your monitor distance is unusual, as is your prescription. > > For stairs, the advice I got was look straight ahead and hold the handrail. Looking down is more likely to cause a problem. Yeah, the monitor distance is one of the big reasons I am just going to get single prescription glasses as it seems that my monitor counts as “distance”. I am also really going to enjoy looking through the bottom of the lenses at stairs not being suicidal. > [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > This is what I do. I actually have 3 different scripts: > > 1. progressives for every day tasks. I find these impossible to use on the computer as the intermediate corridor is too small. > 2. single-vision intermediate for computer work. I typically put these on at my desk and wear them for the working day indoors > 3. bifocal with the top 1/3 distance and the bottom 2/3 intermediate. In Olden Days in the office, I would use these if I was in a meeting room and need to see my laptop and the board/projector at the same time. God, I really want to avoid this. Also, I’m not noticing much of a need for the intermediate section. I tend to be looking through either the top or bottom of the glasses all the time. That might just be due to my inexperience with glasses. Plus, their definition of “distance” seems really short to me. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Particularly as the OP was getting glasses online, a single-vision lens might be easier to fit. > > BTW, a question for the OP; how did you get the pupillary distance and the temple arm length? It’s a lot easier to buy glasses online if you can pull some of the dimensions off an existing pair of eyeglasses. You win. I’m doing that. For PD I used a mirror to measure it. I came out very close and the glasses seems generally decent that way according to the optometrist, but I wasn’t able to account for the different right and left measurements. I tested it and sliding my glasses off to one side does seem to slightly improve vision, so the asymmetry seems to be correct. > [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Yes, they can. I have a pair. Single vision computer glasses might be the right use for Zenni cheap pair cause not the precise fitting needed since the lens is all one lens power, but you’ll have to get that lens strength from your prescription. But the 4.5 foot viewing distance might mean you actually need those pair to be your distance script. Bingo. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/27 "2021-02-17T15:06:17Z")
> [@flight](#): > > You seem to be right. I looks like I am going to have to shell out quite a bit of cash when I go to progressives. Ugh. I’m cheap and that is annoying. At least it is for a high-tolerance high-grade material in the lens. Paying stupid amounts for the frames themselves irks the hell out of me. If you have frames you like (read: bought cheap somewhere else) you can have the shop put their lenses in them. At least every place I’ve gone would do that. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/28 "2021-02-17T15:14:21Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > At least every place I’ve gone would do that. Yes. For some reason, I’ve rarely found an optician/optometrist who carries my frames. And when one does, they mark them up outrageously (_multiples_ of what I can get them for directly). So I buy them myself, take them to the shop. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/29 "2021-02-17T15:15:14Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Another (relatively) cheap option; if there’s a Warby-Parker store near you, you can get eyeglasses with progressive lenses for $295. And a qualified person will do the measuring and fitting. None terribly close, but might be worth a drive when I go for them a year from now. How is their corridor? That seems to be the only really useful difference between the cheaper and more expensive options from what I am seeing. > [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Check out the “Mutifunctional lens” on this Costco website page. It has a very large and wide functional area for computer use, with smaller close (keyboard) and smaller distance, so like progressives but adapted for computer/viewing. Thanks. It looks like I am going to stick with single-distance glasses from Zenni, but in a year from now I will go to progressives (likely) and probably get them from a more expensive shop. Does Costco also have the issue with a narrow corridor? > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > What pupillary distance was used for the Zenni prescription? And how did you measure for the temple arm length? Sorry, but the idea of going online for your very first pair of eyeglasses (progressives, even!) amazes me. I used 64 for the PD on the glasses I got from Zenni. The optometrist said it was closer to 66, but I am a little questioning of that measurement. For the frame width, i said, “I have a big head, what is the largest they have?” The biggest ones I saw were the low end of medium (136 mm), so I had to get those. The temple arm length was whatever came with that (145 mm). The optometrist said that both those measurements worked well for me. So, that was lucky. > [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > If you have frames you like (read: bought cheap somewhere else) you can have the shop put their lenses in them. At least every place I’ve gone would do that. Oooooooh, that is a good idea. Right now I am using frameless, so not sure that would work, but I could try doing that. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/30 "2021-02-17T15:25:03Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > If you have frames you like (read: bought cheap somewhere else) you can have the shop put their lenses in them. At least every place I’ve gone would do that. My previous post may not have been clear, but this is what I’ve been doing for the last 15 years. I have 2 identical frames and alternate between them each time. And I use Costco or Walmart to fill the prescription, as they’re far cheaper than other opticians. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/31 "2021-02-17T15:32:19Z")
> [@flight](#): > > Does Costco also have the issue with a narrow corridor? I sure thought so. Their touted digital progressives may be better than the cheapest of the cheap options, but I sure didn’t like them. My two current pairs have the [Shamir Autograph Intelligence](https://www.shamirlens.com/products/shamir-lenses-products/item/238-shamirautographintelligence) lenses and I think these are the best I’ve ever owned. Probably no surprise, but there are lens geek sites where people discuss the pluses and minuses or all of the lens brands out there. Depending on how little you value your time, you might want to take a peek at those forums. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/32 "2021-02-17T15:38:37Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > - progressives for every day tasks. I find these impossible to use on the computer as the intermediate corridor is too small. > - single-vision intermediate for computer work. I typically put these on at my desk and wear them for the working day indoors > - bifocal with the top 1/3 distance and the bottom 2/3 intermediate. In Olden Days in the office, I would use these if I was in a meeting room and need to see my laptop and the board/projector at the same time. I’m similar. Most of the time, I don’t wear glasses. However… 1. Driving in strange places at night, when I need to be able to read signs quickly, I use single-vision. If it’s during the day, I have single visions that are sunglasses. Until recently we owned a campervan, so stopping 11,000 lbs of machine made me nervy-ous, requiring more time to stop etc. 2. Working on computer or close by, I have prescription readers. However, cheap “cheaters” work pretty well too. 3. If I’m in a situation requiring a mix of uses, I’ll wear my bifocals. I did get progressives as well but I didn’t like the barrel distortion at the edges, which reminds me of ultrawide lenses that bow the lines, making | | look like ( ). As I looked around, that actually made me woozy. I tried them again recently and found them not as bad, but I stick with the bifocals. Oh, and one recommendation: Costco. > **[Costco Optical vs. Warby Parker vs. Zenni Optical: Who Has the Best Prices on...](https://clark.com/health-health-care/costco-optical-warby-parker-zenni-optical-best-prices-eyeglasses/)** > > Think you have to pay a lot of money to get a good pair of eyeglasses? Nothing could be further from the truth! ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/33 "2021-02-17T15:40:08Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > I sure thought so. Their touted digital progressives may be better than the cheapest of the cheap options, but I sure didn’t like them. My two current pairs have the [Shamir Autograph Intelligence](https://www.shamirlens.com/products/shamir-lenses-products/item/238-shamirautographintelligence) lenses and I think these are the best I’ve ever owned. Probably no surprise, but there are lens geek sites where people discuss the pluses and minuses or all of the lens brands out there. Depending on how little you value your time, you might want to take a peek at those forums. Interesting. I will check out the lay of the land on progressives next year. Oh, interesting benefit I have discovered with the shorter (30mm) height of lenses I have now. When I switch to single distance prescription, if I keep this height I will still be able to look out under the bottom of the lenses as a sort of el cheapo bifocal. It doesn’t have the astigmatism correction, but it is a lot better than looking through the distance portion of my glasses. If you look at my prescription, the Add is opposite sign to the Sphere and Cylinder, which I think means that my distance glasses will be worse than nothing for reading. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/34 "2021-02-17T16:18:43Z")
> [@flight](#): > > It looks like Prism is something for double vision. Thankfully I do not have that issue even when looking through any range of the progressives. I was actually saying something else: whether of not you _need_ prism isn’t the point. Lenses tend to _create_ prism, and – with differing prescriptions in each eye – can create different total prisms between the two lenses. Which is _not_ good if you don’t need it, and can be easily avoided by a savvy optician. > [@flight](#): > > Side Sphere Cylinder Axis Add Pupillary Distance > OD -0.25 -0.75 115 +1.50 30 > OS PL -1.50 090 +1.50 32.5 So, you’re actually a bit nearsighted in your right eye but neither near- nor farsighted in your left. You have some astigmatism in both eyes – more in the left. Which is still a bit of _[anisometropia](https://youreyesite.com/things-you-need-to-know-about-anisometropia)._ Yeah. Good quality lenses and a decent optician to put this together would be my take, **even if** you only go with “single vision lenses” for use with your monitor. You don’t need to spend a fortune on these. The progressives … you may, unfortunately, have to spend a few bucks. Hopefully, you’ll have vision insurance by then. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/35 "2021-02-17T16:24:10Z")
> [@flight](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Another (relatively) cheap option; if there’s a Warby-Parker store near you, you can get eyeglasses with progressive lenses for $295. And a qualified person will do the measuring and fitting. > > None terribly close, but might be worth a drive when I go for them a year from now. How is their corridor? That seems to be the only really useful difference between the cheaper and more expensive options from what I am seeing. I’ve worn eyeglasses for years but am unfamiliar with the term “corridor”. What does it refer to? ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/36 "2021-02-17T16:25:07Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > I was actually saying something else: whether of not you _need_ prism isn’t the point. Lenses tend to _create_ prism, and – with differing prescriptions in each eye – can create different total prisms between the two lenses. > > Which is _not_ good if you don’t need it, and can be easily avoided by a savvy optician. Perhaps I am misunderstanding. If prism corrects double vision, including that which may accidentally be introduced by the prescription, then if it was accidentally created, wouldn’t that show up as double vision? ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/37 "2021-02-17T16:26:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’ve worn eyeglasses for years but am unfamiliar with the term “corridor”. What does it refer to? How narrow or wide the tunnel without distortion is in progressives. My understanding is this affects the midfield the first and the thing that really good, expensive glasses can do is widen this with… pixie dust or something. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/38 "2021-02-17T16:30:32Z")
> [@flight](#): > > Perhaps I am misunderstanding. If prism corrects double vision, including that which may accidentally be introduced by the prescription, then if it was accidentally created, wouldn’t that show up as double vision? Follow me briefly down the rabbit hole 😉 Most of us have the ability to accommodate a certain amount of unnecessary prism before we would actually see double. It’s called fusion (the eyes and brain working together to fuse the images from two eyes into one _and_ create depth perception) and we’re talking about fusional amplitudes. But that doesn’t mean that there’s _no_ effect of prism on how you’re seeing or how your eyes are working together _just because you aren’t seeing double._ Think about blood-pressure medication. If you need it, and it’s the right med at the right dose, then it brings your BP down appropriately. If you _don’t_ need it, but you take it anyway, - nothing might happen - you might feel a bit tired and woozy - you might actually pass out when you stand up Depending on how ‘robust’ your cardiovascular system is. Similar with eyes – in this case, prism. It’s a bigger issue in ‘stronger’ prescriptions than yours, but it _can_ be an issue in anisometropia. **Can be.** But there’s no point giving you BP meds (or insulin) that you don’t need, and there’s similarly no point in inducing prism in you that isn’t indicated. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/39 "2021-02-17T16:52:40Z")
Gotcha. So would that be something that is known just based on what the prescription is, or might that change with the lens material or something? ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047/40 "2021-02-17T16:52:53Z")
> [@flight](#): > > The end result is I think that I am going to go with a pair of distance-only glasses and a pair of reading glasses. Progressives seem to allocate far too little real estate of the lens to distance and far to much to reading for my taste. Perhaps in a year I will pick up the vision insurance and get an expensive pair of progressives from the in-person, way-too-fucking-expensive shop ($160 for the “less expensive” frames? What the hell is wrong with them?) that have a much wider corridor, but for now, it doesn’t seem like a great option. When you get the reading glasses, do you actually mean you will use those for your computer glasses?-if so, be sure to point that out to the optician you get fitted by when you order your glasses in person. Saying ‘readers’ gets you clear vision at distance you would hold a book, not, I think, the computer monitor distance it seems you are talking about in your real life use. That computer distance you speak of also might be helpful with the dashboard/speedometer needs when you drive. I’m just passing along stuff I learned the hard and/or expensive way, so you don’t have to. Costco may have something to offer you here. The **multi-functional lens** of their has a huge computer mid-distance ‘sweet spot or corridor’. I quoted my earlier offering of this below here. I had misdirected it to myself so you might have missed it. Costco would cost you $60 for an annual membership, which you save back right away and then some, plus you get the expensive stuff like personalized in-person advice and fitting, just like your expensive optical shop at your optometrist’s. Same qualifications of the person fitting your glasses: optician. > [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Check out the “Mutifunctional lens” on this Costco website page. It has a very large and wide functional area for computer use, with smaller close (keyboard) and smaller distance, so like progressives but adapted for computer/viewing. Read all the way to the bottom of the page for a second, bigger diagram of the much bigger computer sweet spot with their multi-functional lenses. > > Plus of course they also do traditional progressives, anti-reflective, etc. > > [https://www.costco.com/optical.html#computer](https://www.costco.com/optical.html#computer) Re: **prisms** , you may need those even if you don’t think you have what we laypeople think of as double vision. We laypeople can develop ‘convergence insufficiency’ which is what prisms correct for. The misnomer of ‘double vision’ can throw us off. The ‘double vision’ can be very subtle, not what we lay folks think of as double vision. If you need prisms, they can be amazing in sharpening your eyesight. Lastly, consider choosing a slightly taller frame/lens height when you get these new glasses. I suggest this because that way you will be doing the ‘getting used to’ work and adjustment for your vision, face, fashion image now, so you will have less adjustment/getting used to/effort to make when you do get progressives in a year. That lets you only have to get used to just the progressive lens vision adjustment, nothing else. I did not find that hard, a day at most. With the right sized (height and depth) lenses and frame, there won’t be any jarring “suicidal” going down stairs or stepping off curbs. PM me if any of this didn’t make sense. I’m tech-daft and sitting in a house with rolling power outages and frozen pipes, etc and the stress may have affected how well I communicated. I’m off to turn on my oven to heat my kitchen. Dead furnace. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-first-pair-of-glasses/933047.md?page=3)