I have a pair of ~5x jeweler's lenses on a band that fits around your head, a lot like an optivisor (the lenses can be flipped up out of the way), which I find very useful for doing drawings with fine detail (I wear heavy duty prescription glasses and would find it really tough to switch between two sets of glasses). I find that having something I can add to my glasses works better than something I have to substitute for my glasses. The big-magnifier-on-a-stand approach is a lot less flexible, and as Bruce says it can get in the way.
Another option is to buy a set of inexpensive (though not too cheap!) drugstore reading glasses and wear them over your prescription lenses -- great for close work; I use them all the time for sewing, etc.
Hope this helps --
Margy N.
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