Bcied - I'm fairly certain one of my local big box stores has Altair (polished) on one of their island cabinet displays. Is there a cabinet brand/wood species/color you're considering? I could probably snap a couple pics for you.

Jeannette10, I am looking for the same visual effect as you are, and wondered if you were able to see a slab of the Cemento. I am also going crazy trying to find a dark gray quartz product that is not shiny and find it very difficult to visualize with the small samples my KD offers.

Corian does have a marble-look! It's called "Rain Cloud" and it's lovely. The key with any countertop material is your fabricator and installer. If one shows a hesitation to use a particular product that you want, look for someone else! I love the look of Neolith and did look into it for my own kitchen remodel. It's gorgeous stuff, but I could not find a single experienced fabricator in my area and I had no intention of being his "learning experience" with such a very costly material. So, I kept my 31 yr old Corian Glacier White countertops and added to them in one area. Perfect match as it's still the same product! I've been happy with them for a very long time and have no regrets 2 years from my remodel. They wear like iron and are timeless. Heat through a trivet? What was being put down - cast iron right from the stove on a high burner? Nothing can endure that - it would scorch wood! A bit of common sense is required in any room and particularly in a kitchen. Don't cut on any counter surface. At the very least, it will dull your knives badly; at the worst, it will leave scratches/gouges. Don't leave spills for a long time. With Corian, one could leave a bad spill for the entire summer and it would clean up when one returned; not so with many other surfaces. Have children/teens? Teach them to respect their own home! If they abuse it, make them pay to have it repaired. They do NOT get a pass due to youth! If the child is out of the high chair/playpen, then he should be able to follow simple instructions.

To me the polished shows every smudge and finger print. The suede doesn't show fingerprints at all. Also, it looks whiter to me with the Suede. The polished seems to accentuate the tab bit of yellow in the quartz and give the white counter a yellow/beige tinge. Since, we went with white cabinets in a kitchen with southeast facing light (bright), we went with the suede finish. The suede white color goes nicer with our white cabinets, you don't have glare from the sun like you do with polished, and it is easier to keep looking clean b/c it doesn't show smudges or fingerprints.