Hi basscadet,
I would certainly have no problems with any member here that started a thread to compare the mattress they purchased with one of the Tempurpedic mattresses and there are many members who have done just that. A forum search on a specific mattress will bring up all the comments on the forum about it. You will find that different people will have different experiences and opinions about how well any mattress will match another one because there are so many variables involved and a mattress that is a “perfect match” for one person or even a group of people may be “very different” for someone else. There is more about the different ways that one mattress can “match” another one in post #9 here.
Using other people’s experiences on a mattress as a guideline for what someone else may feel is very risky because there are so many unknowns, variables, and subjective factors involved so there would be much less value in using these types of “reviews” as a guideline for your choice compared to more legitimate types of research. In the end the return or exchange options you have after a purchase are much more important than other people’s assessments of a mattress so that you can use your own “real life” experience to decide how well any mattress works for you or how closely it “matches” another mattress. The risk that you may be different from others or that a mattress won’t work out for you as well as you hoped is part of the risk of every online purchase.
You are right that it doesn’t matter what “kind” of foam or components a mattress uses since that part is a personal preference. You are also correct that at the end of the day the only way to know whether a mattress is a good match for you would be based on either your own personal testing or your own actual sleeping experience. You are also completely incorrect though that the quality/density/durability of the foam makes no difference and it’s a mistake that many people make that is one of the most common reasons for buyers remorse. It’s also one of the “arguments” that many inexperienced salespeople who don’t know any better or who don’t know the quality of the materials in their mattresses will tell their customers.
There is more about the different parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here but the two most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase for most people are the “suitability” of a mattress and the “durability” of a mattress. One without the other makes little sense and they aren’t mutually exclusive. Even if a mattress is a perfect match in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) when it’s new … It would have little value if rapid foam softening from the use of lower quality/density materials leads to the loss of comfort and support much too quickly relative to the price you paid.
Two of the worst ways to choose a mattress are brand shopping (see post #5 here) or making a choice based on other people’s experiences and reviews (see post #13 here) both of which can lead to unreasonable expectations and disappointment.
I’m not sure what you are suggesting here but I certainly have no intention of suggesting people consider the worst mattresses I’m aware of rather than those that are among the best. There are hundreds of posts and lists all around the forum that include my comments about hundreds of different retailers and manufacturers and mattresses in every area of the country and if I had to guess I would say that somewhere between 75% - 90% (and probably much closer to the higher number) of the mattress purchases that are made as a result of the information on this site is with retailers and manufacturers that aren’t one of the members here. While there have been a few people that have made similar comments (see some of my comments in post #5 here for an example) … it’s most often an indication that they haven’t read the mattress shopping tutorial or spent much time on the site or they would have realized that I point to “value” wherever I see it and have done so ever since the site started over 3 years ago.
[quote]What is helpful is if someone can tell me which mattress offered by those vendors is the closest to the Tempur-Contour series of beds.
So…can anyone help me with that? [/quote]
Hopefully some of the other members here will read your post and share their experiences but as you hopefully know by reading this reply so far … there will never be a consensus about which mattress is the best “match” for another one just like there will never be a consensus about any choice that has so many subjective elements involved. Most people have also only compared the mattress they purchased to the Tempurpedic if they are purchasing online and have no experience with any of the other options that they could have decided on. There are also other parts to each person’s personal value equation that may be just as important and if someone buys a mattress that is a perfect match for them in terms of PPP but it’s a little different in terms of its subjective “feel” then it would make little difference whether it was an exact match to the Tempurpedic mattress they were using as a reference point as long as it’s a perfect match for them based on all the parts of their personal value equation that are most important to them.
While you can do a forum search on any of the specific Tempurpedic mattresses you are using as a reference and read the feedback from other forum members about mattresses they have purchased that used the same reference point … in the end your own experience and opinions will be the most important factor regardless of how others may feel which means that the options you have after a purchase to customize, exchange, or return your mattress may be a more important part of the “value” of a purchase than how a mattress compares to a Tempurpedic based on the more subjective perceptions and descriptions of other people that may be very different from your own.
Phoenix