In article ,
George Orwell wrote:
I enjoy soldering and repairing electronics, both old TV's, radios, and
modern circuitboards. Unfortunately my eyesight isn't what it used to
be, my nearsightedness has gotten worse the past two years. Now I'm
thinking of buying a decent workbench magnifier lamp, like one of the
Luxos.

My basic question for people who have made such a purchase, did you go
for the 3 or 5 diopter lens, which gives a magnification of 1.75x or
2.25x. The price is pretty much the same either way and I'm sort of
leaning towards the 5 diopter. My only concern is that maybe too much
magnification might introduce errors or distortion?

IMHO a waste of money and space. Most don't have a powerful enough light
in them - especially as the losses are high through those cheap lenses. A
better solution is an anglepoise desk lamp which can be used for
everything and some magnifying glasses. Depending on your eyesight 'ready
read' types can be ok. Over here you can get them in 5 dioptre strength.
My sight is corrected via contact lenses and I find those ideal for
examining PCBs, etc. If you already wear specs there are some workshop
types that fit over them - but I'd find those uncomfortable to wear.

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*Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.