Simmons Beautyrest or Sealy Posturepedic?

I agree, box springs will definitely extend the life of a mattress. We have a beauty rest that was in our guest room and we used to fight over who would sleep there if my husband or I got sick. It was super comfy. A few years ago we gave one of my twins her own room and the bed is now hers and she loves it. Did you look at custom comfort mattresses? The prices are really great, and ours outlasted a much more expensive one that we had to replace because it was so saggy it was unbearable within 3 years. What a waste of money! I liked the Custom Comfort experience, no sales pressure, knowledgeable sales people, great selection and prices. They're a small family owned company, and they take pride in making a good product.

I have a full size temper pedic mattess and that was when they first came out and it is still like new. Over 15 years old. My husband and I bought the Jerome's posturpedic and same thing. We love our bed and it's the best money that we ever spent. The bed is 4 years old. Still like new.

See if you can find a Consumer's Report with comparisons on mattresses (public library?) . Poolmama is correct: unless you have a platform bed, you absoutely need box springs with the mattress.

I didn't have much luck with either brand, actually. They both broke down pretty quickly, and neither manufacturer would cover the issues under warranty. Our biggest problem was the mattress just breaking down, and creating a "trough" where each of us sleeps (and we are normal weight people!). We bought a Novafoam mattress from Costco a year ago and that has been great (and pretty cheap, around $750 I think - although we already had box springs to put it on).

If you don't use boxsprings, the mattress breaks down fast. If you don't use the frame with the support bar, same thing. Also, the warrantys are void. I went and bought the Madison from Denver Mattress. It is very firm, yet soft because of the foam.