Mattress Forum

We recently bought the iComfort set at the Sears 4th of July sale. We looked at the Revolution, and we both liked it, but I found it a bit too squishy, so we went with the "Genius" in queen size, which we also both liked. From what I could tell reading the materials, the Genius lacks an additional top layer of foam present in the Revolution, but has an extra layer of stiffer structural foam inside to provide extra support. We've  had it about two weeks and couldn't be happier. There is enough of the memory foam on top to isolate motion and prevent any kind of "rolling to the center," which could be an issue with my old Sealy innerspring mattress.

No problems at all with heat. We do sleep with the a/c on (typically turned down to 75 F at night in the summer). If anything, the iComfort may be cooler than the old mattress. I've noticed especially the area down by our legs keeping that nice "cool sheets" feeling. It's so comfortable we both actually slept an unintentional extra hour (a Sunday) after the first night. I don't know if it's Serta's vaunted "cooling gel" doing its work, or if its simply the fact that the memory foam on top is not so soft and deep that it really "envelops" you. You lie on top of this mattress, but it does conform to your shape and isolate each sleeper from the motions of the other. She has back issues, and so far has found this mattress to be terrific.

I'd recommend the Genius model highly based on our experience so far (obviously I cannot report on durability at this point). I like a firm bed, and she likes a soft bed, and it seems a good compromise for both (she's as pleased as I am).  I think the push for increasingly "plush" mattresses has to be balanced with the reality that anything you really sink down into is going to retain heat by default. It's also nice to be able to sit on the edge of the bed without sinking down so far that you can't put on (or take off) a pair of shoes or what have you. In the store, I noticed that the Revolution was too squishy to allow this, while the Genius provided a nice supportive edge.

We love it.

Good luck.

Edit: Just saw all the comments regarding a strong odor with this mattress.  Ours has no odor at all. There was a slight smell when it was first delivered, which seemed to come from the plastic bag it came in, but it dissipated entirely within a few hours. The delivery guys advised us to air the mattress out before putting on the linens and we did. No problem. My SO is odor sensitive and can get headaches from powerful perfumes, etc., and she likewise noticed the faint "plastic bag" scent on delivery, and that it dissipated completely after a few hours. Just smelled "new" to us. We have two dogs who sleep in the master closet, and they've shown no hesitation in coming into the room as usual, although I think the little one's annoyed that the new mattress is taller than the old one, so she can barely get her paws up on the edge to pester us as she loves to do. 8)

If you read my previous posts, my wife and I had similar issues.  We are 2 ex collegiate athletes who are still in good shape and this bed gave us aches as well.  We have since switched to the Vera Wang Natural Poise Super Pillow Top and I couldnt be happier.  We were stuck with buying a Serta/Vera Wang or Tempurpedic due to the comfort exchange as well.  We went with this bed with the hopes that it will remain as comfortable as it still is.  We got it around late April/early may and the bed is still great.  We have rotated it but you can see a bit of an impression starting to form as you will with all pillow tops.  The bed is still extremely comfortable and I have never owned a mattress I loved more than this one.  I can deal with the impressions as long as the comfort remains unnaffected.  Good Luck.
 

I found the exact same thing you found.  I stuck my nose right into the mattress and there was no strong smell.  And like you said, there was a faint odor lingering, but I could hardly tell it was there.

By contrast, 2 weeks prior I purchase a 2" memory foam topper from Sleep Innovations to try on my S&F set.  That topper definitely had the memory foam smell of death ... formaldehyde or whatever nasty chemicals were in that.  I only kept the thing a day, but it was stinking the next day when I packed it up.

So, again, no strong odor from the iComfort Revolution I received, and I was happy about that.
 

It seems to be a bad sign that your back is hurting.  If it's from the bed, that's bad.  I really don't think you go through a period where your back hurts, then you adjust, then it's all good.  In the right bed, your back won't hurt at all.

You've probably already thought about this, but if you have an exchange option, it's good to have an exchange in mind even before buying the first bed, a plan B. 

If you do have to pick out another bed, don't be too shy to spend 1/2 hour laying on the top pick in the store.  I spent lots of time laying on the Revolution at a couple different stores. 

I think you can tell if your back is going to tweak by laying for a while in the store just the way you sleep.

One thing that is not discernible is heat buildup.  After all that time trying the Revolution, I never sensed it sleeps a little hotter than conventional beds.  Can only tell that at home in my opinion.

I've been curious for a couple months about memory foam beds. Now I've got one.
 

So we went to look at the Tempurpedic and after laying on 4-5 mattresses we told the salesperson we wanted a night to sleep on it before we made the final decision.  I was a bit concerned about dropping about 2k on a quasi-impulse purchase.  That is when she mentioned the icomfort - she must have thought our concern was price.  (It wasn't so much, it is always a habit of mine to sleep on it before making any final decision with my hard earned money).  When she said this mattress was crafted in part to be cooler than the tempurpedic our decision was pretty much made.  My husband sleeps hot and if he is hot he doesn't sleep - which means I don't sleep.  We did go home and talk it over and ended up purchasing the Revolution which if I remember correctly was also less expensive than most if not all of the tempurpedic models we were considering.

First off - absolutely no smell.  Very faint 'new' smell I think from the plastic and that went away in minutes.  The guys from the store came in, removed the old mattress quickly and set up the new queen sized frame, split boxspring (we have a older house with narrow hallways) and mattress.  We bought a water-proof mattress cover as recommended in this thread.  It was expensive IMO (about $100 bucks) but small price to pay for a long-term investment.

From the first night my husband slept soundly and I have not heard him snore ever since.  He has LOVED the mattress since the first night.  I however took about a week before I slept through the night. I sunk into the bed a bit and didn't turn and move during the night quite as smoothly as I did on our old mattress. The first two mornings I didn't feel sleepy but I didn't feel quite refreshed either after waking every 2-3 hours during the night.  My back didn't feel quite right either - not quite sore, but almost as if I had a work out with my back muscles.  But each night and morning this got exponentially better and by the end of the week I pretty much slept through the night (with the exception of a middle of the night run to the bathroom) and woke up feeling refreshed.

Here is the most exceptional thing.  I admittedly had poor posture before our purchase.  I tended to slouch in my chair or when standing - it took a conscious effort to stand straight and tall.  My mid and upper back usually ached by the end of the day.  I no longer have these problems - I stand up straight with no effort and my back feels great from morning to night.  I actually catch myself with good posture and say to myself 'wow - I was just doing that and not even thinking about it.'  I suspect I'm getting the support I need and those "aches" were actually my back getting used to my proper alignment at night.

So that wasn't such a quick post after all!!  I hope you found it helpful though.  Bottom line - we're very happy with the icomfort Revolution.

Two more things to add.  #1: we have had the mattress since July 5th.  #2: My husband is 5"8' 210 and I'm 5"4' 245.

I'm still figuring my Revolution out since it is so different than a conventional bed.  I'm 6'2" 195 lbs, had the bed since July 13th, '11.

For back pain I would highly suggest steering clear of a deep-sinking Cloud or Revolution. Just my 2 cents based on what I've heard from others. I would stick to something firmer like a Temp Classic or Serta Genius. They'll soften up a little over time but still provide support. 

Just a quick update. Back in May I was going back and forth between Tempurpedic and Serta iComfort, and finally went with a Tempur Classic (cheaper than the Revolution and Prodigy by the way). Got a queen-size and had the bed since mid-June. After reading all these posts I'm glad I went with the time-tested product. First week or two it felt very firm...almost uncomfortably so. But as the guy in the store suggested, I walked around on the mattress a couple times to "open up the cells". That combined with a couple weeks of my body weight on the mattress and now going to sleep is an absolute delight. I'm 5'11, 188 lbs. I mold perfectly into it, but don't sink too far like I would with a Tempur Cloud or iComfort Revolution or Prodigy. I surf a lot which causes quite a bit of strain and soreness on the back muscles so having good support there is essential for me.

Also, I live in SoCal with no A/C in my place and surprisingly the heat factor on this Tempurpedic has been a non-issue this summer. I just sleep with one sheet and I'm good to go. If it's particularly hot I'll use a fan in my room, but that's something I would do on a regular coil bed. With the super soft memory foam mattress (of any brand) where you’re considerably enveloped in it, heat issues will always be more evident. But the Classic is great because you sink in enough so it relieves pressure and conforms to you, but you're still relatively close to the surface and don't have that non-supportive, heat-inducing “sunken” feeling of the ultra-soft mattresses. Don’t get me wrong, the Tempur Cloud and iComfort Revoloution felt wonderful in the store, but you have to think about how your body and back are going to react to it over the course of a 7-8 hour sleep session every night. It’s obviously a very personal choice, but my advice when going to memory foam would be to err on the side of a firmer mattress…based on reviews I’ve read and people I’ve spoken to. The Genius would’ve been my top choice if I went with iComfort, but the risk-adverse side of me won out and Tempurpedic Classic turned out to be a winner. Good luck everybody!