Roommate is looking for a new mattress. Trying to help him out.
-has hip pain
-sleeps 70% on his side, 30% on his back
-cannot be made of latex
-prefers memory foam
Tempur Cloud Supreme is “ok” but “really stiff”.
Tempur Cloud Luxe is “nice” and “really lets you sink in”.
I’m thinking between a 1 to 10 (10 being firmest), a 3 would be ideal.
Since looking into the online mattress market a few months ago, a LOT has changed. I originally had him convinced that the Novosbed Harmony was the best choice. Now, I don’t know. I need to get some unbiased opinions!
Just as a refresher … most of the suggestions in my reply here would still be just as relevant now as they were a few months ago except that this time your friend is using Tempurpedic as a “testing ground” and reference point and there are several of the online manufacturers/retailers that are listed in the memory foam list that is linked in the tutorial post (in the optional online step) that sell mattresses that are reasonable approximations of the Tempurpedic line so once your friend is confident which of the Tempurpedic mattresses is the best match for him in terms of PPP (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) then he will be in a much better position to choose one of the online mattresses that is a good approximation of the Tempurpedic mattress that works best for him.
I would keep in mind that there are no there are 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. More importantly though … 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.
Again if he is using the Tempurpedic mattresses as a reference point then I would encourage him to use careful testing to decide which Tempurpedic mattress is the “best” firmness and the best “match” in terms of PPP rather than using “firmness ratings”.
When you can’t test a mattress in person before a purchase then most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced online retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses 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 that they are familiar with, any special considerations you may have, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs or firmness options to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences and to other mattresses that they are familiar with than anyone else (and most online memory foam retailers/manufacturers would be familiar with how their mattresses compared with the Tempurpedic lineup).
In addition to local testing on similar mattresses and good help and guidance on the phone … the options you have after a purchase to exchange or return the mattress and the costs involved would also be an important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase for most people that can lower the risk of an online purchase as well.
There hasn’t been that many changes since you were last here outside of some of the new “breed” of what I call “simplified choice” mattresses that are also linked in the tutorial post (in the optional online step as well) but most of these aren’t memory foam mattresses anyway (although some of them do use a layer of memory foam in combination with other materials as part of their design).
Novosbed is included in the online memory foam list and I would still consider them to be among the better online memory foam options available. The Harmony is an approximation of the Sealy Optimum Gold so if you can find this mattress locally then your friend could test it to see how suitable it was for him and use it as a reference point for the Harmony instead of the Tempurpedic mattresses.
NOTE ADDED JAN, 2016: They have now introduced their new simplified choice mattress which has replaced their previous models and have also become a member of this site.
