As part of our latest report on mattresses, more than 17,000 Consumer Reports and ConsumerReports.org subscribers rated the best mattress brands and retailers (available to subscribers). Check out these discussions on our Home & Garden forum to share your opinions on mattresses:

• Successful mattress shopping: Read about one commenter's positive experience with the Original Mattress Factory, one of the top-rated brands and retailers in our survey.

• Caveats when comparison shopping: "It is common knowledge that virtually identical mattresses have different names at different stores," noted one commenter (our own research confirms this situation). He revealed how shopping around saved $500 off the price of a $1,899 mattress and how one manufacturer made slight changes to a model to avoid having to honor price-matching guarantees. Another required additional fees for delivery.

That message was followed by dozens of others in which people discuss common mattress myths and share their own positive and negative experiences with other mattress brands and retailers.

• Water beds? Although we did not include them in our survey, one commenter did share his experiences with a $500 model.

Essential information: Our free buyer's guide to mattresses and our past comparisons of high-end mattresses from Duxiana, Select Comfort, and Tempur-Pedic and two different models from Sealy can help you find the right mattress.