NIDEK Marco 700A Autorefractor/Keratometer

 A compact unit that although performs accurately, has reported quality issues after seven years of use.

Overview

We’re not sure how the same company whom now makes terrific and sleek instruments (such as the ARK-1s, or Tonoref II) ended up making the 700A (or similar models) at one time in the past. It’s not that we seriously dislike the 700A, it’s just that we have some questions. Like, who designed the looks of this thing and why isn’t there a proper forehead rest? They’re questions we’ll never have the answers too, but it sure makes us wonder how we’ve gone from this to what’s currently being pumped out of their Japanese factory. The 700A works well- is quite accurate and fairly easy to use but then again isn’t everything else Acme sells? The shape of the 700A resembles a skinny elderly man with a combover, or a deformed duck with a huge bill trying to paddle but on land. We think the idea was to engineer a slim refraction instrument, but it’s footprint is still quite large; the result is oddly proportioned instead and quite top-heavy too. In terms of its actual technology, the 700A produces refractive data accurate enough to rival just about anything, however those numbers aren’t displayed on the screen itself, instead they’re provided on a analog-clock-like readout (below the screen) that resembles something you’d see on a high school scoreboard. It works, and its easy to see (from an operator standpoint), but why not just allow the software to keep it on the CRT screen? After all those numbers will be printed out anyway.