Tri-focal here. Couldn't get used to the progressives. My wife loves them...

I suppose it may depend on the relative strength and type of the various zones. I have not experienced most of the issues raised here.

Of course my progressive lenses start at 5/4 at the top, a bit 11/8 in the middle and 15/16 at the bottom with half a dozen keychanges in between.

I've been wearing varifocals for about 5 years now, didn't have any problems at all adjusting to them, but my wife had to stop wearing hers as she just could not adapt.
 
As time went on, I realised I needed an additional pair for computer/reading work, so the bills keep on going up & up 

I'm also on progressives and the newest pair is only a few months old......I occasionally still go through that warped effect that Bit was talking about and hate it too.
 
The new glasses I got have a bigger viewing area than my previous pair, which really was a significant improvement since I spend most of the day on a computer/tilting the head isn't needed now. The glasses have to be positioned on your nose just right for them to really work as advertised, but they never stay in one place.
 
At times, I've even thought about having that Lasik surgery done.......of course, it scares me a little when someone else is going to be altering my eyesight and permanent damage is a possibility.

Hi,
 
Because I have had 3 surgeries on my right eye, the "progressives" are not any help, and I still see double. I just have 2 prescriptions. One for computer and the other for distance, and that's it. 

I noticed new annoyances last night.
 
The first was a feeling of insecurity while walking down stairs. I'd never noticed before, but when I walk down stairs I unconsciously glance down at my feet. These lenses make that impossible without physically moving my head down.
 
The second annoyance was watching TV in bed. My bedroom TV is mounted on a wall, as high up as the ceiling permits. This allows me to watch from a reclining position. Or at least, it used to. The only way I could bring the screen into focus was to either drop the glasses below my nose or stack up four pillows.
 
Third annoyance is reading/typing on the laptop. The screen appears to be curved, and any text I'm not looking directly at is indecipherable. Tablets and phones are an issue, too.
 
Sounds like I need more than one pair of glasses. One for watching TV. One for playing piano. One for walking down stairs and walking in general. One for the computer. One for driving. I haven't tried soldering yet but I suspect that will be a challenge, too.
 
But for everything else, these new glasses will do just fine. Important activities such as listening to music in the dark will not be impacted.

my new glasses do the same thing.  I have 1 set of new glasses which are far vision only and one set of progressives which are for computer distance and reading.  my computer/reading glasses distort the area like you're describing, especially on the edges and bottom.
 
I could not get used to the progressives for far vision and reading.  I tried them for 3 years and just could not seem to get my brain to use them correctly.

bitflipper
Third annoyance is reading/typing on the laptop. The screen appears to be curved, and any text I'm not looking directly at is indecipherable. Tablets and phones are an issue, too.

Could be that the close up band is too narrow. I always thought they were just graduated from top to bottom but the reading part is just in the center of the bottom. This time I was shown a diagram and offered a choice of three widths, the wider the close zone more expensive (Naturally!). I splashed out on the widest as there was a deal that offered a second pair of basic ones in the price. They are an improvment, I do find I have to move my head from side to side less when looking at things close up. 

Once your prescription is right...I highly recommend www.zenni.com 
They have some of the best frames and lenses at really incredible prices.  All made in China...natch...but all done extremely well.  As an example I paid over $400 smackers for my frames and lenses at my Eye doctor's shop...all top notch (RayBan Clubmasters with Progressive no line Transitional lenses...the ones that darken in the sun).  Basically the same at Zenni would be about $100 bucks.  I actually had no backup glasses at all until my buddy hipped me to Zenni.  Check em out if you're in the market for some new specs or just need a backup pair.