Hi gholson9,
Out of the mattresses you are considering … I would personally exclude the Lucid which uses much lower quality materials (3 and 4 lb memory foam) and a lower quality of base foam than the similar memory foam mattress from MyLuxuryMattress and will be less durable and soften more quickly.
The memory foam mattress from MyLuxuryMattress and the Ultimate Dreams from Dreamfoam would boil down to a choice between a comfort layer made from memory foam and a latex comfort layer.
One is a slow response material and one is a fast response material and both are good quality.
You can read more about the pros and cons of memory foam here and the pros and cons of latex here to make a more informed comparison and choice between them. Both of these mattresses have very good “value” IMO.
- Durability (just has to last at least three years)
While durability has many variables … based on materials alone both would be very durable and easily last this long … although high quality latex is generally more durable than high quality/density memory foam.
- Value (should I even consider the LinenSpa low end mattress)
Your top two choices both have very good value. Because of the lower quality of materials in the Lucid … I would exclude it as a “best value” choice although it does have a lower price which reflects the lower quality and has better “value” than other similar quality mattresses.
- Medium-Firm
This is very subjective and depends on how each person with their individual body types and sleeping styles interacts with and perceives each mattress. The Ultimate dreams though does have the advantage of being able to customize the comfort layer to your preference while the 10" organic (and memory foam and polyfoam is not organic at all) has a standard layer of memory foam and all memory foam is soft when it warms up (which is why memory foam can’t be used in support layers). The combination of the thickness and softness of the comfort layers and how it interacts with the support layers is what leads to the “feel” of the mattress and each person will rate each mattress by different standards. It’s usually best to talk to the manufacturer though who will give you a better sense of how their customers have “rated” a particular mattress even though the average rating using subjective terms like “medium-soft” may be very different from person to person.
- Spring (probably being too hopeful but this would be great)
Memory foam is a slow response material that absorbs energy and has no “spring” at all while latex is a fast response material that returns energy and is much “springier”. Both are very good at relieving pressure with the appropriate choice and in appropriate layers and combinations with the other parts of the mattress.
While this is also very subjective and the subject of many different opinions … latex is definitely much more “movement friendly” than memory foam (which is more movement restrictive) and for those where free movement on a mattress is important … then latex is generally perceived as being more “sex friendly”.
Hope this helps … and if you do choose to go with the Ultimate Dreams … make sure you let them know you are a forum member here so you can receive the “bonus” (in this case a free shredded latex pillow) that the manufacturing members of this site offer to the members here.
Hope this helps.
Phoenix