It's now been well over five days and I've still not heard back from Goggles4U regarding their ability to do a prism. They had their shot, now it's time to move on to the second and final option, of the Big5, 39DollarGlasses.

To reiterate, Dean is looking for Photochromic Progressives. His distance prescription is pretty weak, but he likes to have his glasses on and available for reading. He needs a large frame.

The first thing you'll notice in comparing 39DollarGlasses to Optical4Less, is that the frame prices seem high in comparison -- if you happen to click the "Progressive Lenses" link under "> SHOP EYEGLASSES". The high prices shown here scared me a bit, until I realized that they included the price of the basic polycarb progressive lenses. This is an odd way to list these frames.

I was still able to glean the costs of the progressive lenses from the price list, subtracting the typical single-vision cost of the same frames.

Lens costs and options:

• Clear Polycarbonate Sola® 1.59 progressive lenses - $50 (included in "Progressive" price)
• CR-39 Transitions® Sola® 1.50 progressive lenses - $109.95
• Polycarbonate Transitions® Sola® 1.59 progressive lenses - $148.90
• CR-39 Transitions® Varilux® 1.50 progressive lenses - $148.95
• Polycarbonate Transitions® Varilux ® 1.59 progressive lenses - $187.90

We strike the first (again), due to the fact that he wants Photochromic (I only include it at all to compare the non-Photochromic lens price).

That leaves four options, and with the very necessary AR coating going for an extra $25, I'd argue that the Sola might be the way to go. The fact that he's not going to be playing rugby in these, or riding a motorcycle, coupled with his very weak prescription, makes the CR-39 the logical choice.

39DollarGlasses charges $19.99 flat-rate for prism correction. That ends up about $14 more than Optical4Less for that service. Unlike, Optical4Less, 39DollarGlasses, charges for anti-reflective coating ($24.95), but includes UV and anti-scratch in the price.

So for a full-featured set of these with AR and prism correction, we're looking at $154.89 on top of the non-Progressive frame price (or $104.89 more than the "Progressive" frame price). Confused yet?

Frames?
39DollarGlasses has more frames that closely match the size of Dean's existing frames. Not a lot more, but more none the less (and yes, they've got the Aviator as well). That said, I'm only going to look at two frames as they both possess the 145mm temple that Dean needs.

First up, is the Moscow. It is an awful lot like Dean's current frame. Size-wise, it's very close, and it's available in Gunmetal, which makes it a bit more desirable. If Dean isn't looking for a change, this is a good option, especially with the hard-to-find 145mm temples.

Again, he's tough on glasses and prone to falling asleep in them, so titanium is appealing for durability as well as weight (especially with these large lenses). The creatively-named "Bendable Titanium 8" has the features and the stats to work for Dean (again with the 145mm temple size).



No gunmetal here, however. The Antique Bronze and Antique Gold aren't too bad looking though. A solid contender.

There is a $50 difference between the standard alloy and the titanium frames, and then there is the color difference. 39DollarGlasses' offerings boil down to this:

Feature	Moscow	Titanium 8
Frame	$39.00	$89.00
Anti-Reflective	$24.95	$24.95
Lenses	$109.95	$109.95
Prism Correction	$19.99	$19.99
Total	$193.89	$243.89

Next up? We compare the two places and look at next steps. Dean? We're getting closer.