Hi jr,bay,
[quote]I’ve been reading this great forum and am trying to make an educated purchase. I’ve decided to take bigbox sales shops out of the equation, and I feel good about it already!
My partner and I (average heights and weights) are looking for a memory foam mattress in medium/soft firmness and have a budget of up to $2000, obviously cheaper is better if we can great value, which brings me to DreamStar.
Does anyone have feedback on them?[/quote]
It sounds like you’ve already read the mattress shopping tutorial (which is the first place to start your research) but two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read (just in case you haven’t read them yet) 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 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.
While I can’t speak to how any mattress will “feel” for someone else because this is too subjective and relative to different body types, sleeping positions, and individual preferences, sensitivities, and circumstances … outside of PPP and how well you sleep the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the quality/durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new) so I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.
Neither one of the mattresses you listed includes the foam density for all the layers so it’s not possible to make any meaningful comments about either mattress in terms of their quality or durability but if you can find out or confirm the foam density for all the layers in both mattresses (either from your retailer or from Dreamstar itself) and post them on the forum I’d be happy to let you know if there are any lower quality materials that would be a cause for concern or that would compromise the durability or useful life of either mattress.
5.5 lb memory foam is a good quality and durable material that wouldn’t be a weak link in a mattress but I would confirm that the density is correct and I would also want to know the density of the base layer as well before considering it for a purchase.
Dreamstar makes some good quality/value mattresses and I would certainly consider them on a “mattress by mattress” basis. A forum search on Dreamstar (you can just click the link) will bring up more comments and feedback about some of their mattresses as well (although I don’t think that there are any comments about either of the specific mattresses you’ve mentioned).
Phoenix