Hi MRTRIPOD,
I think my thoughts about the major brands in general (including Simmons) are summarized in the first of the mattress shopping guidelines in this article which is …
1. Avoid buying a mattress made by any of the major national brands such as Sealy, Simmons, Serta, Tempurpedic. While they are not all “bad” mattresses and some may even be good quality, … none of them have good value when compared to similar mattresses made by smaller independent manufacturers. NONE
I would also completely avoid the chain stores and other mass market outlets.
The most effective method of buying a great quality and value mattress that also has the best odds of meeting your specific needs and preferences is by following the steps in the first post of this thread.
The specs at Mattress Firm for the Comforpedic you linked (I repaired your link which was broken) doesn’t include the quality of the foams in the mattress (and this would be reason enough for me to avoid it) but NXG foam is only 3.5 lbs (very low quality) and having 3" of this in the most important comfort layers of a mattress (which are almost always the weak link of a mattress) would also be enough by itself for me to avoid the mattress completely.
Plushbeds is a “better than average” internet retailer that uses high quality materials in their mattresses but there are some better choices listed in post #21 here which includes manufacturers that are members of this site which specialize in working with their customers online and “on the phone” and which provide some of the best quality/value in the country. A forum search on plushbeds (you can just click this) will bring up more information about them.
You can read more about the Spring Air Helena in this thread … and I would avoid it. There is certainly better value available.
The Sleep Science memory foam mattresses list the density of their memory foam (which is 5 lbs and would normally be good quality) but the memory foam is made in China which means that I would want to know that it was CertiPur certified and they don’t provide this information (which probably means it’s not). I would also want to know the type of latex they use in both the Black Diamond and the Latex Comfort because there is better and worse quality latex and they also don’t provide this information. I would also want to know the density of the polyfoam used in the base layers (again there is better and worse quality polyfoam). While sleep Science may have some of the better value out of the Costco mattresses … there is no way to really know for certain the quality/value (or the safety) of what you are buying without this information. I would also be skeptical of memory foam that used a filler like charcoal which can create a false density for the memory foam (making it look like higher quality than it is) and like any filler may contribute to the memory foam breaking down faster than normal.
The biggest challenge of dealing with Costco though (besides finding out the information you need about the materials in their mattresses) is that they know next to nothing about mattresses and without testing a mattress in person or in the case of an online purchase … working with someone with the knowledge, experience, and choices to fit a mattress to your needs and preferences … you are really rolling the dice and relying on their refund policy more than anything else. Even the best quality mattress that doesn’t"fit" your needs and preferences (based on your body type, sleeping positions, and preferences) would end up costing you lots of time, effort, and frustration in returning mattresses that you haven’t tested and really have no way to know how well it may work for you.
So if you are a gambler and don’t mind buying a mattress that uses either unknown or uncertified materials from a retailer that knows little about mattresses … and you don’t mind the possibility of buying and returning several mattresses as a way to find the one that suits you best … then the sleep Science may be a worthwhile bet compared to other Costco choices but they or Costco certainly wouldn’t be my first choice for buying a high quality mattress.
The better options I know of in the Birmingham area are listed in Post #57 here and the first place I would visit is Tom with Royal Bedding.
Phoenix