Charles P. Rogers Powercore 9000 vs. NANO

[phoenix]

Hi planetship,

I do realize that there are many factors that go into purchasing any product that costs thousands of dollars. However in this case, I am simply not willing to go out and conduct exhaustive research or testing in order to evaluate exactly which mattress suits me and my wife “the best”. From what I have learned about mattresses in particular, in order to conduct a meaningful test according to the standards you are suggesting, I would need to own and sleep on every single mattress I am considering for at least a week to determine if it is the “right” mattress for me.

I’m not sure where you read this but it certainly isn’t anything that I wrote or that I would agree with.

Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here (which I linked in a previous reply) which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists (based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you).

Spending 15 or 30 minutes on a mattress in a store provides me with very little meaningful data with which to draw conclusions. I have done it before and at the end of the day all of the mattresses end up feeling the same. I simply have neither the time nor the capital to invest in such an arduous and frustrating process.

While nothing has a 100% success rate … with a local purchase for the majority of people … careful testing using the guidelines in the tutorial rather than just testing for the more subjective “comfort” of a mattress (which often won’t predict how well you will sleep on a mattress or how it will “feel” when you sleep on it at home) and some good guidance from a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer will usually result in a mattress choice that is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and will generally be “close enough” so that if any fine tuning is necessary it would be relatively minor and involve different mattress pads, sheets, mattress protectors, or perhaps even a topper if a mattress is too firm (see post #4 here and post #10 here).

I simply have neither the time nor the capital to invest in such an arduous and frustrating process. Therefore, I am limited to using the opinions and experiences of others when selecting certain products.

Rather than using the feedback from other people that may not have a great deal of knowledge about the mattresses they have purchased and can have very different needs and preferences from your own (and again is one of the most unreliable ways to choose a mattress) … when you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.

The fact is that there is simply no good way to arrive at an informed decision concerning mattress shopping. You can’t trust the high pressure brick and mortar stores, and if what you say is true, then you can’t really “trust” what other people online have to say either. It completely baffles me that this website exists for the sole purpose of people being able to write about their mattress experiences and purchases, yet you tell me and others to be wary of individual opinions. I don’t understand.

This is also certainly not the case and if you follow the steps and guidelines in the tutorial you will shift the odds of success in terms of making a good quality/value choice from being mostly against you to be greatly in your favor. This site was never designed to be a review site (and doesn’t even have a review section on the site) but is meant to educate and inform about “how to choose” a mattress … not “what” to choose.

I or some of the more knowledgeable members of the site can help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress, act as a fact check, answer many of the specific questions you may have along the way that don’t involve what you will “feel” on a mattress, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress, manufacturer, or combination of materials is “best for you” regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or whether anyone else (including me) would have the same criteria or circumstances or would make the same choice.

What you “want to believe” or what you currently believe and what you really “need to know” to make an informed choice and purchase a great quality/value mattress may be two very different things.

In its simplest form choosing the “best possible” mattress for any particular person really comes down to FIRST finding a few knowledgeable and transparent retailers and/or manufacturers (either locally or online) that sell the types of mattresses that you are most interested in that are in a budget range you are comfortable with and that you have confirmed will provide you with the all the information you need about the materials and components inside the mattresses they sell so you will be able to make informed choices and meaningful comparisons between mattresses and then …

1. Careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) to make sure that a mattress is a good match for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP … and/or that you are comfortable with the options you have available to return, exchange, or “fine tune” the mattress and any costs involved if you can’t test a mattress in person or aren’t confident that your mattress is a suitable choice.

2. Checking to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you are considering relative to your weight range that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress.

3. Comparing your finalists for “value” based on #1 and #2 and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Phoenix