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Reading glasses you can buy in Boots etc

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  • 05-11-2018 1:43pm
    #1
    freespace9
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭


    Are they really all that bad?

    I've read that if only used for reading they are fine. There's quite a big price between them and ones you'd buy in SpecSavers etc.

    The first "they are not good for your eyes" article I found online was a sponsored article .... paid for by opticians ;)

    I've been looking for a nice pair of light blue gents glasses for reading and saw such a pair in Boots last week. I had a pair of designer reading glasses with me that I'd paid 189 euros for (buy one get one free) in SpecSavers and when swapping them for the 2.0 strength Boots ones (20 euros) there was no difference at all. And the 20 euro Boots glasses looked better!

    Anyone get the feeling that the optician industry are scaremongering these Boots options because they know people are looking for better options than the crazy high prices they've been getting away with for years?

    Would love to hear some unbiased opinions on this


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    #2
    Stanford
    Registered Users Posts: 1,178 ✭✭✭Stanford


    You don't need to buy designer frames but at least get your eyes tested by an optician for conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and astigmatism, your eye health is surely worth more than €20


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    #3
    freespace9
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭freespace9


    Stanford wrote: »
    You don't need to buy designer frames but at least get your eyes tested by an optician for conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and astigmatism, your eye health is surely worth more than €20


    Of course it is and of course I did.

    I had all that done with the initial eye test you need to get done in SpecSavers


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    #4
    Stanford
    Registered Users Posts: 1,178 ✭✭✭Stanford


    Eyeglasses are actually cut in two planes and reflectively UV coated so cheap Boots glasses are effectively only magnifying glasses, they may tire your eyes unnecessarily if used for long periods of time, personally I find Spectsavers a rip off when they add in all the extras, find a good local optician


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    #5
    my3cents
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,764 ✭✭✭my3cents


    Why pay more the €1.50 in dealz if all you need is reading glasses and if the prescription for both your eyes is similar.

    With reading glasses if you have the wrong ones all you do is either move closer or further away from what you are reading to get the focus right so I have +2.50 for screen work and +3.00 for book reading. I have the screen further away than I have a book.


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    #6
    Stanford
    Registered Users Posts: 1,178 ✭✭✭Stanford


    my3cents wrote: »
    Why pay more the €1.50 in dealz if all you need is reading glasses and if the prescription for both your eyes is similar.

    With reading glasses if you have the wrong ones all you do is either move closer or further away from what you are reading to get the focus right so I have +2.50 for screen work and +3.00 for book reading. I have the screen further away than I have a book.

    It genuinely isn't that simple


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    #7
    my3cents
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,764 ✭✭✭my3cents


    Stanford wrote: »
    It genuinely isn't that simple

    Funny that the optician at Specsavers prescribes me two different strengths of glasses one for screen work and one for book reading. The optician also said there was nothing wrong with the +2.50 and +3.00 glasses I was using at the time which came from Dealz.


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    #8
    freespace9
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭freespace9


    Stanford wrote: »
    They may tire your eyes unnecessarily


    I'm going to keep my SpecSavers ones for when I'm using glasses at length on front of the laptop.


    With the Boots ones - that actually look better - they're just for seeing food menus, prices on small clothes tags etc when out. They won't be on me for long stretches of time


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    #9
    Stanford
    Registered Users Posts: 1,178 ✭✭✭Stanford


    You can combine both uses with a varifocal lenses


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    #10
    my3cents
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,764 ✭✭✭my3cents


    Stanford wrote: »
    You can combine both uses with a varifocal lenses

    Why when I can get 2 pairs of glasses from Dealz for €3 and it doesn't matter if I drop them loose them or destroy them I can just go back and buy another couple of pairs for €3?


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    #11
    Stanford
    Registered Users Posts: 1,178 ✭✭✭Stanford


    Please yourself but you did ask for opinions


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    #12
    freespace9
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭freespace9


    my3cents wrote: »
    Why pay more the €1.50 in dealz if all you need is reading glasses and if the prescription for both your eyes is similar.


    Whatever about a 20 euro pair of Boots reading glasses, I would never put a pair of Dealz glasses anywhere near my eyes


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    #13
    freespace9
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭freespace9


    Stanford wrote: »
    Please yourself but you did ask for opinions


    I did and I'm not discounting them. It's interesting to have a debate about this overall I think as SpecSavers etc have been taking the piss on prices for years.

    Even if the Boots ones make opticians rethink pricing it'll be a good thing.


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    #14
    my3cents
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,764 ✭✭✭my3cents


    freespace9 wrote: »
    I did and I'm not discounting them. It's interesting to have a debate about this overall I think as SpecSavers etc have been taking the piss on prices for years.

    Even if the Boots ones make opticians rethink pricing it'll be a good thing.

    What do you think is one of the biggest sellers that Dealz have?

    I doubt Boots sales come anywhere near those of Dealz for reading glasses.


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    #15
    TheIrishGrover
    Registered Users Posts: 5,985 ✭✭✭TheIrishGrover


    I don't know if it's intentional or not but you are coming off as quite confrontational in your replies.

    As for are they bad for you? Personally I think they are terrible terrible things and should be banned.Everybody's eyes are different: Different shapes, different distances from each other, different focal points etc. Are proper glasses too expensive? Absolutely. But sticking magnifying glasses to your face is not the answer. I would even be wary of these places online that sell prescription glasses at a cut price. But that's just me personally. As someone who has worn glasses for over 40 years I am very aware of the potential damage/discomfort of a perscription that just does not fit.


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    #16
    jimmycrackcorm
    Registered Users Posts: 14,330 ✭✭✭✭jimmycrackcorm


    TheIrishGrover wrote:
    As for are they bad for you? Personally I think they are terrible terrible things and should be banned.Everybody's eyes are different: Different shapes, different distances from each other, different focal points etc. Are proper glasses too expensive? Absolutely. But sticking magnifying glasses to your face is not the answer. I would even be wary of these places online that sell prescription glasses at a cut price. But that's just me personally. As someone who has worn glasses for over 40 years I am very aware of the potential damage/discomfort of a perscription that just does not fit.

    I too have the deal glasses. I find them perfect for reading. I just think it's scaremongering.


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    #17
    freespace9
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭freespace9


    TheIrishGrover wrote: »
    I don't know if it's intentional or not but you are coming off as quite confrontational in your replies.


    No that wasn't intentional.



    I'm simply looking for thoughts and debate on this. That's all ;)


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    #18
    HeidiHeidi
    Registered Users Posts: 28,884 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    I'm also interested in this..... having worn glasses most my life, I got my eyes lasered in my 30's, but the long-sightedness is finally creeping in in the last year or so.


    I'm wearing €2 specs from Penneys, which work a treat, but I do wonder if I'd be better off with a "proper" pair..... but having paid the three-figure sums so often back when I wore glasses fulltime, I'm very reluctant to go down that road again.


    As the OP says, hard to know when so many vested interests are involved.


    Will be reading the opinions on here with interest!


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    #19
    my3cents
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,764 ✭✭✭my3cents


    HeidiHeidi wrote: »
    I'm also interested in this..... having worn glasses most my life, I got my eyes lasered in my 30's, but the long-sightedness is finally creeping in in the last year or so.


    I'm wearing €2 specs from Penneys, which work a treat, but I do wonder if I'd be better off with a "proper" pair..... but having paid the three-figure sums so often back when I wore glasses fulltime, I'm very reluctant to go down that road again.


    As the OP says, hard to know when so many vested interests are involved.


    Will be reading the opinions on here with interest!

    Go to the opticians and pay for a test (or get it free if you can) and then ask what your prescription actually is. If its common reading glasses magnifications of +1.00 to + 4.00 then you can go and buy your prescription in Dealz, Penneys etc if not then you need to get the optician to make them up but even then you can use an online optician for a good deal.

    The point is to get your eyes tested and to get the results so you can then make your own decision how the prescription is fulfilled.


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    #20
    RiseToMe
    Registered Users Posts: 1,272 ✭✭✭RiseToMe


    freespace9 wrote: »
    Whatever about a 20 euro pair of Boots reading glasses, I would never put a pair of Dealz glasses anywhere near my eyes

    As somebody who runs a laboratory that tests ready to wear spectacles, manufacturing and material wise there is no difference in quality between the two.

    As already stated ready to wear spectacles can only correct one aspect of any prescription, the spherical. It cannot correct any astigmatism. They will also not take into account the distance between your eyes, just a standard distance of typically 63mm. The material used in the lenses is typically acrylic and not the resin material used in ophthalmic lenses, which in itself can strain the eyes due it's constringence.

    Generally the large majority of ready to wear eyewear we are sent to test by either consumers or regulatory bodies, are substanadrd in some respect and either fail or fall within the testing guardband of failure.


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    #21
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    my3cents wrote: »
    What do you think is one of the biggest sellers that Dealz have?

    I doubt Boots sales come anywhere near those of Dealz for reading glasses.

    ALDI occasionally have them

    I lost my glasses in a house move and it was going to take weeks ) medical card and remote place) to get a test. A lady in a shop pointed me in the direction of a pharmacy; E7 and I have never regretted it or felt the need to go near an optician again. I read and knit etc; am headed for 80 and they do fine. Like others here I have several pairs around


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    #22
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    TheIrishGrover wrote: »
    I don't know if it's intentional or not but you are coming off as quite confrontational in your replies.

    As for are they bad for you? Personally I think they are terrible terrible things and should be banned.Everybody's eyes are different: Different shapes, different distances from each other, different focal points etc. Are proper glasses too expensive? Absolutely. But sticking magnifying glasses to your face is not the answer. I would even be wary of these places online that sell prescription glasses at a cut price. But that's just me personally. As someone who has worn glasses for over 40 years I am very aware of the potential damage/discomfort of a perscription that just does not fit.

    May cannot afford, even with a medical card.


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    #23
    BuboBubo
    Registered Users Posts: 927 ✭✭✭BuboBubo


    My parents use those for reading, computer use (occasional, not work use) and swear by them.

    I think they bought them in Aldi. They're handy for magnifying small print etc. They're useless for me, as I'm long-sighted with astigmatism - prescription lenses only for me.

    They work for some, not for others. People know for themselves what works for them. I don't see how magnifying lenses can cause damage with occasional use.


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