Hi mdgail1,
You can see my comments about the new “breed” of what I call “simplified choice mattresses” in post #1 of this topic and there are some comments about each of them specifically (particularly about the quality and durability of the materials they use) in post #2 of the same topic.
There are certainly some great quality/value choices available to you in this group (and some that aren’t as great) and if you are considering online choices then the tutorial also includes several other links to lists of the better online choices that I’m aware of outside of the “simplified choice” category of mattresses as well (in the optional online step).
There may also be some good options available to you locally and if you let me know your city and zip code I’d also be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area as well.
You can see my comments about some of the so called “professional review sites” in the first post of the topic I linked. While other people’s comments about the knowledge, service, and guidance of a particular business can certainly be helpful … I would generally avoid using other people’s experiences or reviews on a mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you and in many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (see post #13 here). The fact is that the only thing a mattress review will usually tell you is how one person likes a particular mattress which is usually based only on initial or early impressions that are very subjective and little else. I would be very skeptical of anyone who claims that they have some kind of crystal ball that can predict which specific mattress you will sleep best on with any certainty. It just doesn’t exist.
There are also no “standard” definitions or consensus of opinions for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness as well and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.
The choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article). The best way to know which types of materials or mattresses you tend to prefer is based on your own careful testing or personal experience. Some people prefer some types of mattresses while others may prefer something else completely so there is no right or wrong with preferences. It would be like asking “which clothes are best for me?” and of course there really isn’t any answer to these types of questions except to say “the ones that you prefer”. I would also keep in mind that all mattress categories include a very wide range of different mattresses with different firmness levels and designs so even if you prefer the general “feel” of a certain type or category of mattresses there may be some mattresses of that type that may be “perfect” and others that may be completely unsuitable for you to sleep on.
There is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here 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).
Phoenix