Hi NintenTim,
[quote]A little profile of me
height: 5'9"
250 lbs (diet is lowering this slowly and steadily, target weight is 190)
side sleeper, often with the bottom arm behind me and a little rolled over onto my stomach
I have a neck injury that bothers me sometimes, I often rearrange a lot during the night to properly support it
I tend to enjoy some give in my mattress, but hate feeling sunk in to the point where mobility is restricted, it's also a huge pet peeve for me when my mattress topper migrates off the bed and it feels like I'm sliding off myself, thinking I probably need something of medium firmness
looking for a queen memory or latex foam bed, a bit confused by the prospect of poly foam[/quote]
You are also the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own personal testing or sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
While the type of materials or the type of mattress you choose is a preference choice (not a “better/worse” choice) … the quality and durability of the materials in a mattress is an important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase because most materials have lower quality and less durable versions and higher quality and more durable versions.
Since you are also in a higher weight range (more than the low 200’s or so) you will need to focus on higher quality and more durable materials more than those that are in lighter weight ranges and I would make sure that any mattress you choose meets the quality/durability guidelines in post #4 here for your weight range regardless of the type of materials inside it.
These are the types of questions that only you can answer because each person has different criteria that are important to them that may be very different from someone else.
The best place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read 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 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 (or that doesn’t feel as close to another mattress as you hoped it would) that are involved in each of them 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, durability, and value.
There is more about some of the “simplified choice” mattresses in the first two posts of this topic including some comments about the relative durability of each of them in this topic.
If you are limited to lower budget ranges yet then some of the better lower budget online options I’m aware of are also listed in post #4 here.
I would be very cautious about using lower quality/density materials than would be suitable for your weight range regardless of the cost because you can end up losing the comfort and support which was the reason you purchased it much too quickly relative to the price you paid and for a mattress to last 5-6 years I would use the same criteria that I would use for a mattress that would have a reasonable expectation of lasting 7 - 10 years.
Phoenix