>I didn't like them at the cinema. parts of the screen seemed very blurry.

That's Lauren Bacall in soft focus, dummy! :-)

>Also when driving. At the time where I lived involved pulling out onto a fast main road between two corners. I found when looking to the left my vision was blurred which I found distracting.

I paid extra to get the peripheries extended, maybe to counter this problem.

>The optician said give it a few weeks everyone gets used to them but I didn't. Speaking to friends later I found a few who hadn't liked them. My prescription is fairly strong and I think that doesn't help as the area of distortion is bigger.

Mine's fairly strong, esp. the left eye cf the right.

>
>>>I tried varifocals for a coupe of weeks and hated them. I went back to a plain prescription and taking them off for reading.
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>>What did you hate about them? I found them weird at first - no straight horz or vert lines - every rectangle spangle-shaped, floor and staircase lurching up at me, et al, but I got used to them after about a week and now the brain accommodates all the weirdness. Funny in that when I first started wearing them I was rennovating a room - wall papering, putting up picture rails, etc. All things that involved vert & horz perception. Talk about relying on your instruments! The spirit level was my friend! :-)
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>>>>I have the opposite problem. I have to take my glasses off to read.
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>>>>>I have 1x reading glasses that I bought at Walmart (per the eye doctor's recommendation) and use for reading fine print on medicine bottles, ingredients on food products and shampoo, et al. I finally had to admit that the print wasn't getting smaller and it was my eyes :o) I actually have a prescription that has 1x on the bottom and nothing on the top. I've never used them though because I only need them when reading small print and I'd rather have larger glasses for that then try to look through the very bottom of glasses.