Most of the good quality and reasonably priced sleepers (around $3K) come with no mattress where you lift the sitting portion and move back to open the sleeper. They have split open option, single open option etc and are great with one problem: there is no mattress and these are usually firm with cushion made for sitting rather than sleeping. Luonto, Fjords, Innovation, American Leather today series.. all have these but i wanted softer/medium soft mattress option.
Sleepers with mattress comes in many price range
- Cheapest and starting with Pull-Out mechanism where mattress is rolled and squished under the seat and you can remove cushions and pull it out. Not Good as the mattress breaks after sometime due to lack of space and when you sleep in some models you may feel the bars. Good for occasional use only. Ashley, Rowe and many others makes them.
- Easy open mechanism are those where you have a handle or string at the back and you pull it towards you to open the bed. Advantage is you don't have to remove back or seat cushions and also the mattress is of better quality. Best of these come from Klaussner, Innovation living and many italian vendors.
- Best in class are the sleepers with great quality mattress which lies flat. Mechanism is called Platform sleep system. Leader in this category is or was American Leather - Comfort series. The mattress is cut in 3 pieces and lies flat and the mechanism works in such a way that the three layers sit on top of each other. User removes the seat cushions and pulls the sleeper to make the complete bed. Mattress pieces sit so closely that one would never feel the seam.
While researching i decided to buy sleeper with platform sleep system and zeroed on Klaussner as it provided same quality sleeper at far lower and affordable prices as compared to competition.
conclusion: this sofa sleeper is one of the best sleepers one can get and i don't think anyone can beat this price. I would rate this as #1 on my list. I have been using this one for 3 weeks now and its more comfortable than my regular bed.