Ever since the Tempurpedic debuted its first mattress on TV, I've wanted one. My husband and I tried one out a few months ago, and we absolutely loved the Celebrity bed ($$$!!) but also could see ourselves loving the Classic mattress as well.

I've picked up snippets and tidbits here and there about how the majority of companies who have memory foam mattresses, otherwise known as "knockoffs" of the Tempurpedic, use the exact same material as TP but without the high costs. TP supposedly has a great marketing system and that's why they can sell their mattresses at the prices they've been selling them.

Is that true? If so, what memory foam mattresses rival that of TP?
Thanks!

basicly yes it is overprised for what it is due to loads of money thrown at advertising and R&D, so a rival company COULD take one of their beds and reverse engineer to work out how its made, and make it conciderably cheaper .... and many have tried .....

the problem is tempur is VERY good, its feel is not something i have found a rival for but its level of support is common with the higher end memory foams. i dont have any names for others you can try as im ot based in the USA but dont be sucked in by the companys selling them at really low prices, if you are looking at the quality of tempur then it wont be matched by its low end brothers.

Cool, thanks for the info!
I read somewhere that to find a mattress like TP, it should be made of visco-elastic, which is the same material that TP uses. Apparently, there are at least two different "kinds" of memory foam.
When the time comes, I'll have to do a lot of comparing to find the right TP imitation mattress. Going used on Craig's List is another option, too, though  I'm a little weary about buying a used mattress online...

your right there are many types of 'memory foam' but this is where it starts getting quite complex and would take up a lot of space to type it all out. try reading through some entrys on wikipedia, but remember it is written by people like you and me so it is based on what people THINK is true a lot of the time but the general theory is sound as the people writing it are not trying to sell you something.

a common replacement for visco is reflex foam (you may have other names for this), its often used as a mid layer in higher end beds or the top layer in cheaper beds. this wont react the same way as visco foam, it wont give the same level of support and wont last as long but is often used in the 'knockoff' Tempur type beds, hense the big gaps in price. a lot of companys will use very low density visco foam and that is a lot cheaper to produce also the lower density will make the bed feel firmer and a lot of people seem to think this is directly connected with the support getting better, often its not true, it is far easyer and cheaper to make an unsupportive hard bed and they basicly sell themselves, its far harder to make a comfortable supportive bed, and they also are harder to sell due to feeling softer.

going used is a good route to go if your on a tight budget, it will get you a better bed for the same money, and with a memory product you can usually get a new 'sock' to go over it if your worried about hygine [TIP: even if the cover says washable, dont do it loads. these are treated with fire retardant chemicals and should only be washed a few times in their lives] but be sure to go and pick it up so you can check the condition of it before parting with your money, and ask why they are selling it if they had a problem with it you probably will to.