Well, I just had my initial consultations at Optimax (Finchley Rd) and Accuvision. See comments under each clinic. At Accuvision I was examined very thoroughly by a knowlegeable and enthusiastic member of staff. They also carried out wavefront analysis, which gives a far more precise picture of the optical defects than refraction alone. Overall a very impressive setup. I was blown away by the high-tech kit they have there - obviously a huge investment, so they must be pretty confident about recouping it with sufficient patient revenues over the next few years. They've only had about 450 patients so far, so everything's still very new & shiny – and you can take a peek through the window into the op room. Met one of the members of staff who'd had LASIK done there - and was invited to see her eyes under the microscope! (which I graciously declined - they looked just fine to me) The only disappointment was, I didn't get to meet a surgeon as it wasn't an operating day - but they said I was very welcome to come back & see one if I liked. One benefit of Accuvision & wavefront: their laser would remove approx 30 microns less cornea (40 vs 70) than the Nidek at Optimax, due to the custom ablation profile. The more cornea I can hang onto, the happier I'll be! The main thing I gained from the day though, was to realise how being myopic (I'm -2.75 & -3.5) can stop you needing reading glasses when presbyopia kicks in in middle age. I'd read about this on the web before, but now I've seen for real. Here's what happens: when they put the drops in your eyes to dilate the pupil, it also paralyses the lens, which stops you being able to focus close up (I may not be exactly right about this – I'm not an optician, but I think that's the way it was). I found I wasn't able to see my watch with glasses on, but only had to lift my specs, and my trusty short-sighted mince pies could see the time clearly - case closed. So, you have to trade off losing some good near vision in later life, against great distance vision from now on. At least that's how I see it.