I purchased a 4.5 last December. Luckily for me I both wear contacts AND have a diving Optometrist who's office is a couple of blocks from mine. I tried the mask in a local indoor pool and it was great. Although, I only had a few minutes since the pool was very busy.
I ordered a set of purple glasses and got a call from Terry Macay of HydroOptix who actually worked with my Doctors to ensure that I got the correct fit.
In January I took the mask and my glasses to Cozumel. The view was fantastic, however I was having two problems, leaking and fogging. When I returned, I sent a picture of me in my mask to HydroOptix and mentioned the fogging and leaking. Terry called me immediately to assist. It seems that my optometrist sold me one of the original masks without the nanofog coating. She told me that it was perfectly good as long as I cleaned it with toothpaste (which I finally did) but I still decided to order a replacement lens with the coating form them. We also discussed solutions to the leaks, which were relatively minor.
Then I took the mask on a Western Caribbean cruise. I dove Fort Lauderdale, Grand Cayman, Aruba, Play Del Carmen and Cozumel. I can say, that I do not think I could go back to my flat mask. The unobstructed views are fantastic.
The only issue I still had was leaking. I finally traced this back to the lower edge around my nose. I tightened the lower screws and this seemed to take care of the leaks. Now that my mask is dry and clear, it is fantastic. I do not have the neck strain from twisting my head back and forth to see everything that I sometimes got form a long dive. I can see my gauges clearly as well as distant objects.
I want to say, that the HydroOptix Company has been extremely active in making sure I have a great experience with the mask. When I sent my photo in to them, Terry called me to discuss what could be done to correct the problems. I did not have to ask them.
If every company went as far as they do, it would be a different world. I highly recommend the mask to anyone. We spend fantastically huge sums of money to go diving. If you take the entire cost of a dive trip and divide it by the minutes we are actually under, I think we might all stop diving. Given that the experience is largely a visual one, anything I can heighten that visual experience, I will do. The HydroOptix mask does just that.
It is a hassle wearing contacts, but not an inordinately challenging one. The gain far exceeds the hassle of carrying an extra set of contacts just for diving. My hat is off to everyone at HydroOptix for providing such a unique upgrade to our scuba avocation. Keep up the good work!
But she still has a little claustophobic problem, and I thought this might help her out. BTW - my wife is a warm water and definitely a "easy" diver only. She wants to get her AOW and rescue diver and that's it. BTW - she already has her drysuit and all of her gears (minus tanks) 
oh well ... I'll keep wearing it 
