I received this mattress pad early yesterday, laid it out on a bed to expand and air out for around 9-10 hours, and when I got home it was flat and ready to go. I never really noticed much of a smell to it. After I got it under the fitted sheet on my futon and flopped down on it, I did notice just a bit of a foam chemical smell for a moment, but it quickly went away. It ended up being just a couple inches short of the edges of my futon mattress all around but as I don't generally sleep right on the edges, I really couldn't care less (and I think it fits better this way under the sheet than it would if it were the exact size of the mattress).The pad is heavy and quite dense, thicker than I expected for a promised 2" pad. Feels like quality to me (I've never used another memory foam product so I have nothing to compare it to).I slept on it last night then took a short nap on it this afternoon. I have to say this pad immensely improved the comfort of my futon, which was all right before but a bit too firm for me. FYI I'm male, 39, only 5'7" and about 145 pounds so I'm small. The 2" size works great for me. I would imagine a very large person would prefer the 3" one. I think the 3" one would have been more difficult to use on my futon since I often set it in sofa mode. (It didn't cause any problems in sofa mode, just conformed nicely to the new shape of the mattress and was quite comfortable to sit on.)I've been having lower back pain and stiffness for several months now, and I suspect it actually started when I switched from sleeping on a regular bed to this futon, which is a good one with a quality 8" foam mattress, but is still very firm and not quite perfectly flat. My back has felt good all day today. I woke up with no soreness or stiffness at all, very refreshed. It was also easier for me to get to sleep last night as any position I tried felt good. I woke up this morning and after my nap feeling like I was nestled in a custom designed cocoon.Overall I'm giving this pad 5 stars for turning my stiff futon into an exceptionally comfortable bed, and at Amazon's great low price I can't complain at all. Great product. I'd highly recommend it for college dorm beds, kid beds, futons, cots, anywhere you need more support and comfort and can't use an expensive, high quality mattress.By the way have you seen how much a Tempurpedic 3" mattress pad costs?? It's like $710 plus $75 shipping!! Really puts this great product in perspective for the price!