Hi ltgrady,
The first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that you will need to make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
[quote]They were both Amerigel mattresses. The specs were…
4" (Me) or 2" (Wife) of 3lb Gel Infused Open Cell Memory Foam
1.5" of “Luxury Foam” (I’m not sure what that meant and the sales woman just said it was better than the foam beneath it
7" High Density performance foam
They were $1800 and $1400 (way too much) for a King[/quote]
Outside of how well a mattress matches your specific needs and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) the most important part of a mattress purchase is making sure you know the quality/durability of the materials in a mattress (see post #13 here).
The information you will need to make an informed choice about any mattress to identify any weak links and make more meaningful comparisons with other mattresses is in this article so that you can compare them to the guidelines here.
I would tend to avoid any mattress that uses more than “about an inch or so” of 3 lb memory foam or any other lower quality/density material which means that I wouldn’t consider either of these mattresses unless you are in the very lowest budget range and there are no other alternatives available (and you are only considering a memory foam mattress).
There is more about “matching” one mattress to another one in post #9 here but as soon as you change even one layer or component of a mattress with a different material (or a different density or thickness or different type of memory foam made by a different foam manufacturer) then you would have a different mattress so it really isn’t possible to “match” one mattress to another in terms of how it feels and performs using specs unless they are virtually identical or unless the retailer or manufacturer has personal experience with both mattresses you are considering and is confident in how they compare.
The better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Hendersonville/Asheville area are listed in post #4 here.
The tutorial post also includes several links to many of the better online options I’m aware of (in the optional online step).
Post #2 here includes links to the better forum posts about mattresses and children but I would tend to avoid memory foam with younger children especially.
Phoenix