Shopping for eyeglass lenses

[RACER X]

So I'm going to need glasses, and I've never had glasses before and Z Mostly wears contacts.

Does anybody use online lense places?
Just calling a local eyeglass place, said $300 for mid level lenses w/o all the extras


Online place top level lenses was $180

both was me supplying the frame

[Cass]

I got mine from Target.. paid $300 for 2 sets of frames AND lenses.. anti-scratch, anti-glare, etc.

[Avatard]

I haven't gotten glasses in nearly a decade. Eye test in probably two. Yeah, I know.

Still, I'm gonna go way out on a fucking limb here, and give you my knowledge on the subject dating back well over ten years. Let's see how it holds up, kids:

Don't get non-glare, they scratch easy, you have to use a special cloth.
Don't get plastic, they scratch. Fuck the coating, it doesn't really work.
Don't get photochromic, it doesn't get light enough, or dark enough.
Go to the store, and spend the time, try shapes you wouldn't normally think to try out. Different shit looks VASTLY different on different faces.
If you end up getting the plastic (if you have unusually thick lenses), spring for the lightweight.

[pauldun170]

So I'm going to need glasses, and I've never had glasses before and Z Mostly wears contacts.

Does anybody use online lense places?
Just calling a local eyeglass place, said $300 for mid level lenses w/o all the extras


Online place top level lenses was $180

both was me supplying the frame

No...

Go to an eyeglass place and make an appointment with an optician\ophthalmologist.

Dont dick around with some online place if you you are just starting to wear them. At the very least, you want to try on a bunch of frames and a qualified person to make sure they fit properly.

[Avatard]

The centering and indexing (if astigmatic) of the lenses over your pupils is crucial in order for the prescription to work properly. You should go to a professional to be properly fitted with glasses.

[pauldun170]

I haven't gotten glasses in nearly a decade. Eye test in probably two. Yeah, I know.

Still, I'm gonna go way out on a fucking limb here, and give you my knowledge on the subject dating back well over ten years. Let's see how it holds up, kids:

Don't get non-glare, they scratch easy, you have to use a special cloth.
Don't get plastic, they scratch. Fuck the coating, it doesn't really work.
Don't get photochromic, it doesn't get light enough, or dark enough.
Go to the store, and spend the time, try shapes you wouldn't normally think to try out. Different shit looks VASTLY different on different faces.
Yup
Especially the photochromic. They were ok when it was sunny out but sucked everywhere else.

My prescription is pretty stable (with a slight improvement in one eye over the years) and I get new frames every 1-2 years. I still have my old ones and occasionally I'll use them for riding but they are starting to get a little scratched up.

[RACER X]

Well both of my sisters are optometrist (only 1 practices) so that's covered

The online place had a place to enter in centering numbers
She works part time at the sams, they don't sell lenses our frames, though sams does

She just does the exams

[RACER X]

currently wearing + 1.25 walmart readers

Lol

[RACER X]

Well I'm keen on oakley, so I'll be looking into those frames

They actually make ' asian fit' sunglasses.....lol

Yes they are actually called that

[Avatard]

Well I'm keen on oakley, so I'll be looking into those frames

They actually make ' asian fit' sunglasses.....lol

Yes they are actually called that

That's Hirarious.

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/55168/55168,1211240013,7/stock-photo-asian-man-wearing-taped-glasses-12808495.jpg

[EpyonXero]

That's Hirarious.


:lol

I got contacts a couple months ago and got my exam at Sams but bought the lenses through Walmart.

[Homeslice]

Plastic lenses are pretty much mandatory if you've got a strong prescription......Otherwise they'll weigh like a pound. And I haven't had a problem with plastic scratching. But then I'm not in the habit of dropping them on the ground.

[the chi]

Well first you have to get the right prescription, but I've always used this place to order my glasses.

http://www.zennioptical.com/

Glasses from $6.95, can't beat that. Mine average $15 for a pair I'd spend $300 on at any eyewear store. They don't have name brand, but they've got huuuuuge selections of pretty much anything, all you do is input your scrip info and order. They give options for frames for narrow, average and wide faces too.

Started using them after someone knocked my glasses off the bike and stepped on them. I am also prone to losing a pair every other time I wear them so I keep several spares around.

[defector]

So for all you peeps wearing glasses, is surgery not an option? When my wife and both kids wore glasses, and that shit was expensive.

[the chi]

Sure if you can afford several thousand dollars...compared to that, glasses are a viable option, since for a couple hundred or less you can usually wear them at least a year.

I finally started wearing contacts and was pretty peeved about the cost but it's still less than the surgery, and my eyes aren't really bad enough to need the surgery yet. I'm waiting till I need coke bottles to do anything that drastic.

[Homeslice]

Also, even if you have surgery, you're going to need reading glasses later in life. The surgery over-corrects your far vision, and messes up your near vision when you get older.

Not to mention the other side effects that sometimes happen (halos at night, dry eyes, etc).

[Cass]

Near sighted left eye, near sighted astigmatic right eye. Weak prescription for both.

I CAN have surgery, but have other priorities right now. Contacts/glasses don't bother me that much. I'm effing lazy about my contacts, because I'm always at home. Don't really see the point in wearing contacts at home, when I have perfectly good glasses.

[Porkchop]

Just went tuesday myself. Go with the professionals. I go to a small personal shop in town. I've been using these glasses for almost three years now, and I noticed the vision was off a tad. I got the checkup, frames and lenses, and a half year of contacts (which will last me a year and a half) for $276. And the glasses were no cheapies either, I was looking at polo, nike, and converse. And they should last me 2-3 years. I just look at it as an investment.

Unless the problem is no insurance, and your trying to keep cost down...

[askmrjesus]

I want glasses like Barry Weiss (http://img.poptower.com/pic-36066/barry-weiss-storage-wars.jpg?d=600) from Stoage wars :rockwoot:

Me too.

I always wanted to look like a pudgy Jewish gangster.

JC

[Particle Man]

The centering and indexing (if astigmatic) of the lenses over your pupils is crucial in order for the prescription to work properly. You should go to a professional to be properly fitted with glasses.

Totally this. My left eye is perfect (actually better than perfect) but my right eye is fucked. If I close my left eye, the whole world gets DAMN blurry. That eye is asigmatic. I can usually go without glasses because the left eye compensates the shit out of things and I can see better than a lot of people I know. However, when I get really tired, I need to put glasses on so I don't get headaches. I had one set where the indexing was ALL jacked up (left lense is basically just clear plastic with no correction). It seriously effed me up to the point where I was sicker than a freaking dog.

They were jacked up because I cheaped out. Moral: you almost always get what you pay for.

[askmrjesus]

I was looking at polo, nike, and converse.

You shopped for glasses at the shoe store.

No wonder your eyes are so fucked up.

JC

[HurricaneHeather]

I started wearing glasses when I was 5....I'm a mother fucking expert at being blind. :lol:

Never heard of online stores. I've always just gone to the optometrist and ordered frames and lenses from them. :shrug: I never knew there was so much to think about. :lol:

And about the surgery...not everyone cares that much. I get new glasses every 8 years now and my contacts are $23 a box and last 6 months. I like wearing contacts. I've been doing it for 16 years and it feels wrong not to have them in. My glasses are several hundred dollars but that's because I do wear coke bottles. I have to get all this special shit done to make them look normal and they are still coke bottles. Not a big concern of mine. I do like getting into, "My eyes are worse than yours" debates. I've never lost once. Or won...however you want to look at it. :lol:

[Homeslice]

I started wearing glasses when I was 5....I'm a mother fucking expert at being blind. :lol:

Never heard of online stores. I've always just gone to the optometrist and ordered frames and lenses from them. :shrug: I never knew there was so much to think about. :lol:

And about the surgery...not everyone cares that much. I get new glasses every 8 years now and my contacts are $23 a box and last 6 months. I like wearing contacts. I've been doing it for 16 years and it feels wrong not to have them in. My glasses are several hundred dollars but that's because I do wear coke bottles. I have to get all this special shit done to make them look normal and they are still coke bottles. Not a big concern of mine. I do like getting into, "My eyes are worse than yours" debates. I've never lost once. Or won...however you want to look at it. :lol:

My contacts are -5.5 left, -6.5 right

[HurricaneHeather]

My contacts are -5.5 left, -6.5 right

:rofl: That's cute...

-11.5 and -12

I win(or lose) again! :lol:

[defector]

So if glasses are still super thick, are contacts as well?

[HurricaneHeather]

So if glasses are still super thick, are contacts as well?

Yeah they are apparently. I've never worn anyone else's contacts so I don't have anything to compare it to. :lol:

[Homeslice]

:rofl: That's cute...

-11.5 and -12

I win(or lose) again! :lol:

Yeah yours must be thick as a mofo :scratch:

Don't they dry out by the end of the day?

[HurricaneHeather]

Yeah yours must be thick as a mofo :scratch:

Don't they dry out by the end of the day?

Not that I notice. My optometrist wants me to wear my glasses more, but she knows that as blind as I am, I can't really drive with my glasses and I certainly can't drive at night. So, I try to take them out if I am going to be home for the night. Only time I notice them being super dry is if I fall asleep or cry a lot.

[Tsunami]

Ed, I am blind as a bat, well not as blind as Heather :lol:

I got a pair of oakleys at sams club with everything on it, super thin lenses, anti glare, polished sides, yada yada for $220.

I would like to get surgery but I am too scared to do it and glasses/contacts dont' bother me.

[Porkchop]

You shopped for glasses at the shoe store.

No wonder your eyes are so fucked up.

JC

:lol

I tried on a pair of the polo black rimmed nerdy-chic glasses so I could be all stylish while I go act important at starbucks with my macbook. But alas... I am not cool enough for black rimmed glasses....

My contacts are -5.5 left, -6.5 right

:rofl: That's cute...

-11.5 and -12

I win(or lose) again! :lol:

Jesus christ you guys are blind. I thought I was bad at -2.5 and -3.

[HurricaneHeather]

Jesus christ you guys are blind. I thought I was bad at -2.5 and -3.

I'm a liar. When I got home I checked my prescription. I'm only 10.5 and 11.0. I know at one point I had 12s. Whether my eyes have gotten better, or I just got a better optometrist is up for debate. :lol: