I tried them for a month and hated them for the whole month. Couldn’t see my own feet; just could not adjust at all. Headaches, eyestrain, nausea, etc. Find a deal that includes ‘money back if not entirely satisifed’, is my advice.
I have worn glasses basically all my life - like since age 3. When I had to go bifocals I did the normal lined version and managed to injure myself and came close to injuring others. I stuck with the lined/usual bifocals due to cost (I’m a cheap bitch) for longer than I should have before trying progressives. Worlds of difference! These I can just wear basically without thinking and my brain adapted to it all basically in the course of a day. They are still what I consider pricey even with some of the cheaper options out there today but for me its worth every penny.
I’ve been in the bi/progressive world for about 15-20 years now.
My last pair of single-vision lenses are in those frames. The store refused to even consider putting my progressives in them.
I ended up getting sort of a modern version of the old horn-rims. Still need to take 'em off to read very fine print.
I picked up my new pair of progressives last night. And…
OMG, I love them. When I first put them on, I thought they had accidentally given me single-vision lenses, because I didn’t see any blurry spots like I had expected.
There is a slight roundness at the edges of the world, to me it’s like the difference in wearing glasses after you’ve worn contacts for a long time.
If I look at something through the “wrong” part of the lens, it’s no worse than having a smudge - I still go on seeing what I was looking at, slightly less optimally. After the last few months, when I felt like I had trouble seeing things all the time, it’s a definite improvement.
The worst thing is if I look down when I’m walking, things do get a little weird. Well, I’ll just look up then! I’m reading and using a computer today just like the normal people. 
I just got my first pair of progressives a couple weeks ago and that is almost my same experience. My only complaint is my use of them at the computer. I have two very large monitors and one is in portrait mode so a lot of looking up and down. This is worse with the progressives. I think at some point I’ll do what lots of other folks suggest and get a dedicated computer pair. I’m going to put it off a bit though. Two pairs of glasses are for old folks and I’m not old! I’m inching up on it but I’m not there yet. 
Darn straight! Though I did feel somewhat granny-like yesterday when I found myself grabbing at a stair rail out of necessity.
I am extremely nearsighted, so big lenses get extremely thick around the edges for me. I went with bifocals so as to accommodate smaller lenses. It’s been fine for me; I’ve gotten used to the line being there.
Well, I don’t have nearsightedness (well, I do, but very, very slight not even close to legally blind), but at 46 I do have presbyopia, which, strangely, you don’t seem to have if you can read stuff at 9" away with no problem. I do have progressives that I got a few months ago.
I have progressive sunglasses that I absolutely love and would never ever give up and use them for driving and other outdoor activities. Love them. Makes me feel like I have superhuman vision. They are aviator style and I think their large shape reduces “progressive annoyance” as I like to call it (e.g. where you feel forced to turn your head to look at a side rear view mirror, because glancing is a bit fuzzy).
My regular progressives I don’t like so much. I carry them with me if there’s something I absolutely need to read without discomfort. For plain reading close up stuff like a book, I absolutely think plain reading glasses you can buy at the dollar store are superior. The reading area is too small in progressives. I REALLY don’t like the “turn your head” aspect of progressives.
If I’m doing “hybrid” activities like switching looking at my phone and watching TV, I put on a pair of “granny reading glasses” at the tip of my nose and just glance up and down with no strain whatsoever. This, I suppose, mimics the effect of lined bifocals, which seem to me have a “just right” combination of reading and distance area on the lens. But then you look like a grandpa. Progressives are honestly I think are mostly about aesthetics.
I love my progressives. I have progressive sunglasses, indoor progressives, and progressive contact lenses. I don’t think I ever noticed any period of adjustment, with the caveat of one day or so of blurriness when looking down. Even that went away pretty quickly.
Put me solidly in the “aye” column.
Another ‘dedicated computer glasses’ person here. This is actually new for me - I’m 63 and only just started doing this last fall. They’re actually my prescription for reading glasses, but they’re good in a range from 6 inches from my eyes, out to about 4 feet. I’ve got one pair for work, and one for my desktop at home. And everywhere else, it’s bifocals.
I’ve had similar problems with progressives to what others have mentioned, but in my case, the reading lens was too small for reading books, and I was having to take my glasses off to read. And I was also having the same problem with bifocals in recent years that others here have mentioned, of having to tip my head back to see the screen through my reading lenses.
So reading glasses at the desktop computers, and bifocals everywhere else, solves all the problems, and just works well for me generally.
I use progressives now, and for some reason I’m much happier with the darkened pair I use outside. But I’m with ftg. My best vision came with a pair of bifocals designed for (1)close-up and (2)seeing my computer screens, and a second pair of glasses that allowed me to drive. I admit, either gives me the thrill of walking down a flight of stairs, looking down and seeing the stairs and my feet dissolve beneath me. Whee!
I’m 46: I’ve needed vision correction since I was 7 and have worn contact lenses since I was 13, and I’ve just started to need reading glasses on top of my contacts (e.g., at the end of September I bought a watch with a date window…by the end of December I could no longer read the date). It’s annoying, but no way am I ready to switch to bifocals/progressives and have to wear glasses all of the time.
Phew! 
I’m due for an eye exam this month. I’ll ask my optometrist about those.
I tried bifocals and absolutely hated them. They make me dizzy and literally nauseate me. They say you get used to them after a week or so, but I never did. I never tried progressives, because I assumed they would cause the same difficulties.
Now I have three pair of single-vision glasses that I switch as needed. I don’t find it particularly burdensome. They’re not expensive either, since I buy from Zenni or EyeBuyDirect. One pair is for distance (driving, walking and general use), one mid-range (computer use, cooking, woodworking, etc.) and one pair for reading books and newspapers and the like. The last pair isn’t strictly necessary, as I can and usually do read with no glasses at all. They mainly correct an astigmatism in one eye and make reading slightly more comfortable.
I have progressives. It took me about a week to get used to the first pair. I love them. Incredibly convenient.
Bumping to say I’ve found all your advice helpful…finally got around to getting a new prescription last week and ordered a pair of progressives from Zenni (who I’ve been using for years) to see if I like them.
Ooh. Big mistake. Progressives are hard to fit correctly, and require face to face time with a qualified (licensed and/or ABO certified) optician at the time of order and for the final fitting. There are necessary measurements that are specific to this frame on that face.
Yeah, I dunno - I guess my thinking is that at $40 they’re a basically disposable experiment to give progressive glasses (which I’ve never worn and am inherently skeptical about) a try for the first time…wasn’t ready to spend $400 to do so (which is what the place I went to said a good quality pair would cost.)
My optician actually marks the fake lens worth a pen where the optical center belongs. But I’ve wondered if i could work that out on my own and order on line.
The problem is they’re highly unlikely to work well, because they haven’t been properly measured. The tolerances on placement are only about a millimeter per eye. $400 is a pretty decent price. 13 years ago wholesales on middle of the road frames averaged around $110 and progressives lenses around $90-100.
You know the saying about a lawyer who represents himself in court? That goes double for trying to do your own optical measurements.
My Zenni progressives came in, my thoughts so far:
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For all-around wear they’re pretty good! Things I was afraid of being bothered by (out-of-focus peripheral areas, “swimming” effect of head turning causing motion sickness, etc.) have not been a problem…situations where they work especially well solving my previous problems are, say, sitting down to eat where I can see everything from the food on my plate to my companion sitting near me to the digital clock on the stove on the far end of the house in focus, or working on something around the house without constantly having take my glasses off/on to see near far - a relief when both hands are full, yesterday I hung a hammock up in the yard and could see the knots I was working on up close as well as across the yard as needed very naturally.
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The intermediate/near focus areas on the lenses are pretty small, though - they’ll do in a pinch, but if I’m sitting down to work on the computer or read for any length of time I don’t want to have to move my head (rather than eyes) around, look down my nose, etc…I’ve already ordered single vision “computer” and reading glasses for those purposes as many advised above (Zenni makes them cheap enough to keep around at home/work as necessary.)
Anyway, thanks again for all the advice - putting this reaction out there in case it hopes anyone else researching the topic in the future.