If the questioner is afflicted with presbyopia (the loss of accomodation or ability to change focus from far to near) an important laptop-related purchase may be a specialized pair of eyeglasses. Those under ~45 can either ignore the rest of this or file the information away for future reference. Barring some sort of breakthrough you'll eventually need it as presbyopia is an all but universal effect of aging.
The number of factors determining an optimum solution is large and probably exceeds the number of factors used in choosing the laptop in the first place. Since I don't want to start a religious discussion I'm just going to offer the solution that works for me and the major factors that determined what it was along with a few suggestions. I should say I'm neither an eye doctor nor connected with the eyewear industry but just someone with a lifelong interest in vision and a collection of vision problems that makes optimization of my visual function important.
For me, the major factors are:
1. My preferred distance for a CRT or laptop screen is roughly 24". My reading correction for 16" doesn't work at all at the CRT distance. A correction averaged for the two distances works at neither.
2. My neck and shoulders get very unhappy if I have to hold my head up to see the screen for any length of time. This is most important at a CRT and when using the laptop on a table or desk and less so when it is on my thighs.
3. A significant use for my laptop is taking notes at meetings or lectures where I must rapidly change focus from laptop to distance and back.
4. My vision is such that I must wear glasses to see clearly at any distance. I can't wear contacts.
The pair of single-vision glasses I use at a CRT don't work because of factors 3 and 4. Many people may find progressive lenses such as Varilux which change your focus to near gradually as you look down a good solution but the combination of factor 2 and the pecularities of my prescription rule them out for me. Traditional trifocals where the intermediate region has 50% of the "add" (the change in power between the distance and reading portions) don't work - either the intermediate region focuses too far away for the laptop or the reading region is too close for comfortable reading.
My current solution is a pair of bifocals where the lower region is my CRT prescription and the top of the bifocal region is somewhat higher than on my standard bifocals. This allows me to use the laptop without craning my neck and to switch between the laptop and distance without a lot of head movement. So far so good.
Before going to your eye doctor to discuss glasses for use with the laptop try the following. Set the laptop up and put on your reading glasses if necessary. With your eyes closed, pretend you're using the laptop and adjust it so the keyboard is at a comfortable distance. Then open your eyes and see if your reading prescription works. If so, lucky you. If not, have someone measure the distance from your eyes to the screen and take that number with you when visiting your eye doctor. Some thought on what situations the laptop will be used in and what your personal "comfort zone" is as to head placement etc. can also prove useful before going to your eye doctor and optician.
Slashdot Mirror
If the questioner is afflicted with presbyopia (the loss of accomodation or ability to change focus from far to near) an important laptop-related purchase may be a specialized pair of eyeglasses. Those under ~45 can either ignore the rest of this or file the information away for future reference. Barring some sort of breakthrough you'll eventually need it as presbyopia is an all but universal effect of aging.
The number of factors determining an optimum solution is large and probably exceeds the number of factors used in choosing the laptop in the first place. Since I don't want to start a religious discussion I'm just going to offer the solution that works for me and the major factors that determined what it was along with a few suggestions. I should say I'm neither an eye doctor nor connected with the eyewear industry but just someone with a lifelong interest in vision and a collection of vision problems that makes optimization of my visual function important.
For me, the major factors are:
1. My preferred distance for a CRT or laptop screen is roughly 24". My reading correction for 16" doesn't work at all at the CRT distance. A correction averaged for the two distances works at neither. 2. My neck and shoulders get very unhappy if I have to hold my head up to see the screen for any length of time. This is most important at a CRT and when using the laptop on a table or desk and less so when it is on my thighs. 3. A significant use for my laptop is taking notes at meetings or lectures where I must rapidly change focus from laptop to distance and back. 4. My vision is such that I must wear glasses to see clearly at any distance. I can't wear contacts.The pair of single-vision glasses I use at a CRT don't work because of factors 3 and 4. Many people may find progressive lenses such as Varilux which change your focus to near gradually as you look down a good solution but the combination of factor 2 and the pecularities of my prescription rule them out for me. Traditional trifocals where the intermediate region has 50% of the "add" (the change in power between the distance and reading portions) don't work - either the intermediate region focuses too far away for the laptop or the reading region is too close for comfortable reading.
My current solution is a pair of bifocals where the lower region is my CRT prescription and the top of the bifocal region is somewhat higher than on my standard bifocals. This allows me to use the laptop without craning my neck and to switch between the laptop and distance without a lot of head movement. So far so good.
Before going to your eye doctor to discuss glasses for use with the laptop try the following. Set the laptop up and put on your reading glasses if necessary. With your eyes closed, pretend you're using the laptop and adjust it so the keyboard is at a comfortable distance. Then open your eyes and see if your reading prescription works. If so, lucky you. If not, have someone measure the distance from your eyes to the screen and take that number with you when visiting your eye doctor. Some thought on what situations the laptop will be used in and what your personal "comfort zone" is as to head placement etc. can also prove useful before going to your eye doctor and optician.