Opinions on autorefractor/keratometers

[Mr. Finney]

I'm looking for opinions on autoref/keratometers, specifically on the lesser known brands. Has anyone used anything besides Topcon, Marco/Nidek, Zeiss Humphrey etc? If so, what did you think about its accuracy, dependability, serviceability, features, etc? Thanks!

[braheem24]

Alright, I'll break the rules you already set out.

Topcon KR series 3000 or any number above will give you years of service and the company will see you parts unlike zeiss or a company that may go out of business.

Johns just picked one up for a very good price, $1500 in the classifieds. They're usually are in the $3000 range.

I'll be throwing away my brand new looking zeiss autorefractor soon, since the company makes it very hard to get parts.

[Mr. Finney]

Man, I figured Fezz would be the first rule breaker!!! Thanks for your $.02 though, I'm sure most replies will be similar to yours lol.

[Mr. Finney]

So maybe I was wrong about the "most replies" comment, since NO ONE ELSE commented!

[jmainwar]

We brought in a Huvitz HRK7000AW earlier this year. Accurate machine, too accurate in that it takes a long time to get a reading. The unit is top heavy on the base and will wobble around until one has accommodated to it. We had recently used a Topcon 3000 series and could not have been happier with that.

[Mr. Finney]

Thank you jmainwar! Good to know since we were actually considering the same unit (with a different name on it).

[jmainwar]

My personal thought is that the time needed to get the reading is compounded by the unit compiling the aberrometry data.

[Mr. Finney]

Ahh, true, so if we didn't get the wavefront unit then the speed probably wouldn't be an issue. Still, I'm concerned about the instability of the unit. Although my Nikon Speedy K didn't seem that stable either.