I purchased a Sleep Number Bed about three years ago, and it has served me wonderfully. I bought the Sleep Number 4000, which is a queen-sized bed with a feather-top mattress pad for extra cushion.
Set-Up
This is no traditional mattress. It comes completely disassembled and has large, poster-size directions on how to put everything together. I did it myself (remember, I have a queen size) and it took about an hour. Two people can do it in about 20 or 30 minutes. There aren’t any fancy tools required, just a standard Phillips screwdriver, and you’re set. At first, I was a little weary of the sleep number bed, because the frame pieces are made of plastic. However, once fully assembled, the bed feels extremely solid, especially under my 250lbs body!
Advantages
My first impression was “big deal.” I was in the U.S. Marines for 5 years and I have trained my body to sleep anywhere, anytime. Why should I give up my second-hand mattress for this $2,000 sophisticated sleep number bed system? After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right? Wrong! The first night I slept on my Select Comfort I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night once. I got up the next morning and thought I was a new man. It was literally like sleeping on a cloud! I think I had the setting at around 20 (which is extremely soft) and it was great.
The next night I thought I’d try one of the harder selections so I turned up the setting to 45. It only took about 2 minutes to fully adjust. It was much firmer and felt excellent on my back. This was the point of no return.
Okay, so there is always a downside. However, with the Select Comfort mattress I’d be hard-pressed to really complain about anything in particular. The sleep number bed inflates/deflates quickly, and the construction of the mattress frame is superb. I suppose you could say that the price is a little steep, but this is a state-of-the-art bed, and I’ll defend the price factor in the following section.
Price
Obviously, this sleep number bed is going to cost you a little bit more than the mattress you pick up at Wal-Mart or Cost Co. Personally, I’ve always believed in spending the extra buck when my well-being is concerned. In other words, there is nothing more important than your body. And aside from eating, sleeping is the number one thing that people simply cannot do without.
Conclusion
We spend over 1/3 of our lives sleeping. That’s more time than driving, more time than watching television, and certainly more time than any other single activity. As consumers, we spend $2,000 on the latest and greatest flat-screen television set, so we should definitely be spending at least that much on a high-quality bed. The Select Comfort sleep number bed is the Cadillac of beds.
