[HarryD]

I would not go with Corian (or it's imiatators) or the Acrylic products. They do not last.

Either laminate, tile or some sort of stone (natural or synthetic).

If you price of a slab takes your breath away (it did to me when I did my kitchen), but you like hte look of granite, think about granite tiles. They come in two basic flavors: 12x12 squares and 18" wide x 26" long mini slabs.

We did our kitchen with 12x12 "Ubatuba" tiles. The material was on sale at Home Depot for 7$/sq and we hired a tile mason to set them. We installed about 100 sf for about 1/2 the cost of a granite slab.