Jon,

The most important aspect in getting good results with strong Rxs and/or complex
lens designs is to position the lens properly in front of the eyes, and to
select a frame that will allow this to happen. So I would recommend that you
shop for a good optician, and you'll find one by learning the lingo, and asking
about specifics like monocular PDs, fitting heights, base curves, wearing vertex
distance etc. Experienced opticians will be able to explain the differences
between lens designs and materials, and what those differences will mean to you
specific to your situation and Rx.

Hope this helps,

Robert Martellaro
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Optician/Owner
Roberts Optical
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If a million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."
-  Anatole France

There are some distinctions that you should be aware of, especially with
regard to progressive lenses.

There are multiple lens Manufacturers such as Essilor, Pentax, Hoya, Zeiss,
Rodenstock, Sola, etc.

Each manufacturer usually has several different progressive lens Designs,
which can vary in quality, sophistication of curves, custom ground versus
ground from blanks, minimum fitting height (suitability to short frames),
and other factors. In most cases, simply knowing the manufacturer is not
enough to identify the lens design.

The Natural is one of the specific lens designs sold by Essilor that is
considered to be a mid-quality lens.  Essilor also markets a premium brand
called Varilux that includes the Comfort, Panamic, Liberty, etc lens
designs.

Each lens design is usually sold in a variety of different lens materials,
such as CR-39 (Regular Plastic), Polycarb (1.58), 1.60 index, 1.67 index,
etc. Simply specifying "high index" is not sufficient information to make an
intelligent decision on a lens or to comparison shop.

As the lens index goes up, the lenses are thinner and lighter, but the
optical quality goes down. Polycarb has especially poor optical quality,
especially for strong lens powers, and I would avoid this material, which is
heavily pushed by many retailers including LensCrafters..

For the best possible advice on this forum, post your exact Rx, and your
previous experience with progressives. You can also look at the Google
Groups archive for previous posts in this forum on progressive
recommendations.

You best bet is to find an experienced optician who is knowledgeable about
progressive lenses to get some good lens advice and to ensure a proper
fitting (which is extremely important for progressives, especially in high
power Rx's).

Personally, I have found little correlation between price and the quality of
advice/service offered by optical retailers. Some OD's who have an in-office
optical shop and charge premium prices are too busy to properly supervise
their low paid and inexperienced opticians. I would try to find some other
retailers besides LensCrafters and Costco that have access to a wider range
of products to suit your needs.