Hi Digitair,
[quote]I am roughly 150-160 lb, 5’8"tall, side/stomach sleeper.
My main goal is the purchase a bed with the best value, If I can get something with comparable comfort for several hundreds cheaper, Ill do it, but Im also not afraid to purchase an $1000 bed, if its really worth it.[/quote]
While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site but just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first 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 choice … and perhaps 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 “comfort” and PPP that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for 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 (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.
Again nobody can speak to how any specific mattress will “feel” for someone else or whether it will be a good “match” in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP because this is too subjective and relative to different body types, sleeping positions, and individual preferences, sensitivities, and circumstances and you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress … outside of PPP (which is the most important part of “value”), the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new) so again I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase. I would certainly avoid any mattress that doesn’t meet the quality/durability guidelines relative to your weight range.
Assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for your body type and meet the durability guidelines I linked relative to your weight range … 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). Since your list is very long and needs to be narrowed down considerably … it would make sense to do some local testing to give you some sense of the type of materials and mattresses that you tend to prefer so you can start excluding some of them based on your preferences.
While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific 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. 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 in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … reviews or other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).
Your own careful testing or personal experience is the most reliable way to know whether any mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP … but when you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) 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 or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.
Of course the guidance you would generally receive from a company that only offers a single mattress in a single firmness choice would generally be along the lines of “try it and see if you like it and if you don’t then you can return or donate it and receive a full refund” because there aren’t any other options that they offer as an alternative.
[quote]some of the big names that always seem to come first, is Leesa, Purple, Novosbed, Ghost Bed.
Pricey options include: Leesa, Purple, Novosbed, Ghost Bed, Alexander, Loom&Leaf, Zotto, Saatva, Casper, BB, etc.
Budget options include, Tuff and Needle, eluxurysupply, Brentwood Homes, Ghost Bed, Yogasbed
Cheap amazon $200 options include: Lucid, Zinus, Signature Sleep[/quote]
There is more information about many of these along with many of the other “simplified choice” online mattresses in post #2 here in the simplified choice mattress topic and the first post in the same topic would be well worth reading as well. For the simplified choice mattresses (which aren’t such a simplified choice any longer) that I haven’t added to the list yet a forum search will bring up more information about them.
At the very least I would avoid the last group of “cheap” mattresses completely since none of them meet the guidelines I would suggest and they would all make risky choices. I would also avoid any of the others that have a weak link in their design and don’t meet the durability guidelines as well
Phoenix