I just spent three months researching mattresses - including trying out dozens of mattresses in stores - so this LazyWeb question is relevant to me because I kn

I just spent three months researching mattresses - including trying out dozens of mattresses in stores - so this LazyWeb question is relevant to me because I know shopping for mattresses is a P.I.T.A. Mattresses are a very personal thing, though, so you may hate what I like... I tried out everything from the cheapest mattress at Sam's Club to a $30,000 mattress. In box-spring mattresses, I liked the Vera Wang series from Serta...but that is way above your price range. (It isn't their highest-end line, but it is one their premium ones.) You definitely don't want a continuous spring mattress, which is what many of the box-spring ones are in your price range, unfortunately. We tried several natural latex mattresses and hated them, so I was leery of trying a completely memory-foam one, but my online research said that memory-foam mattresses had the highest customer satisfaction ratings. I ended up buying a memory-foam mattress from BedInABox that is actually better than the $4000 Tempur-Pedics I tried. I paid $7XX or so, but that was for a California King. I think you could find a smaller one for $500. They shipped the 11" thick mattress to my door, shrink-wrapped in a box. My wife also loves it...it is the first mattress we both actually like in our 12 years of marriage. I think it has all the upsides of the Tempur-Pedics, but none of the downsides (it's cheaper, the foam rebounds faster, and it doesn't get hot, etc.)