I've been making the same decision and so far the solid surface beats the formica for me.

I love corian and have it everywhere, but they are all very light colors. I wouldn't recommend corian in black though. It will show every smudge and scratch.

I had trouble making a countertop decision too. Sometimes I think we have too many choices now! Anway, once I ordered Corian samples that I used in my kitchen for a few weeks the decision was made easy. AFter only two weeks there were noticeable scratches in the solid surface. I know that you can buff those out, but I don't have the time. I am going with granite this time around. If my choices were between solid surface & laminate, however, I would choose laminate hands down. The bright blue laminate in my kitchen now still looks are good as the day it was installed - January 1991. Where it not that awful blue (what was I thinking?!?) I just might keep it!

Everyone I know grew up with laminate and it wears like iron if you don't mind seams. If the solid surface is shiny, it won't stay shiny. A matte finish with a lighter color will help disguising the inevitable scratches that occur until they eventually meld into a patina. Both types can be cleaned with just about anything - 409, Windex, bleach, etc. You don't want to use abrasives on laminate, whereas solid surface has color all the way through. If you want an undermount sink it's much easier with solid surface. (It's been done with laminate but I wouldn't risk the water damage.) I have Corian on my perimeter counters because I loved the color, dislike the seams and didn't want the edgebanding or postform edge that you get with formica.

I wouldn't ever recommend a white corian sink though. Impossible to keep clean without daily bleach and scrubbing. I have a stainless undermount.

Soapstone would look so gorgeous with your white cabinets.

Black solid surface is a no-no unless you never use your kitchen.

I once warned a past client about getting a speckled black solid surface top, but she insisted. A few weeks after the install she actually called me up to complain that I didn't try to do a better job in talking her out of it. She said, "You didn't tell me it would show scratches THAT much!" I felt bad for her, but I really tried....I even let her take a knife to one of my samples. I told her I would re-do her top at cost, but I couldn't do it free of charge.

i used absolute black granite in my last apartment and it was fabulous. i have it in three rental apartments, too, and it seems great there, too. mine got a ton of use, i never sealed it, and it didn't show any signs of wear at all. plus, it was cheap: twenty five bucks per sq. ft.

Thanks for the helpful responses.
I went to price granite yesterday and found that it will actually cost a bit less than the solid surface.
So I am going with the granite, very dark, but with a bit of color which will be best in my small dark space.
I will post pics when it is in. A small kitchen is VERY hard to do, there is no extra space for things like dishwashers which open against the frig.
I did buy a 24" x24" bottom freezer frig, so I think that will help open up the space.