We found this forum very helpful when we were buying countertops and had been meaning to find a way to give back. So here is our contribution.

We had Caesarstone honed Raven installed in our kitchen in July & we love it.

CARE:

We'd read about the "extra care" that it requires and that scared us some, but we took the leap because we love the color and the matte finish. We find that everything wipes off very easily. It does show circle marks from wet glasses and if you leave oil on it for a while you may see the mark, but I have found that using a blue SOS pad gets even oil marks right off.

The manufacturer recommends cleaning with a blue Brillo/SOS pad, Comet Scratch Free with Bleach, and Soft Scrub Gel with Bleach. I have used all 3 and like the Brillo/SOS pad the best. We did have one weird mark on it shortly after we got it (I am not sure from what) that I had to scrub a bit to get off, but it did come entirely off.

It is definitely easier to maintain if you wipe it down after you are finished cooking. We don't use any spray cleaners on it, just wipe it down with a damp cloth or with soap and water after using. We use the SOS pads probably once a week or when I am doing a thorough clean of the kitchen. We are pretty laid back in our household (we certainly don't keep an immaculate kitchen) and even with that we have had no trouble keeping the counters looking good.

THE FINISH

The finish on the honed Raven is VERY flat so you need to like that and be wanting that look in your house. We really like the flat finish, but that is a matter of personal preference. It is very different than the shiny granite counters that characterize many new kitchens. Personally we find that it has a softer, more natural look to it and we have gotten really positive feedback on it from friends. A lot of people are intrigued about what it is, asking if its honed granite, slate, or soapstone. We think that there may be a trend towards honed finish based on conversations with friends and some research.

I would describe the color as a slate gray. You can see variation in the surface, with some lighter grey spots throughout. The variation seems kind of random in its pattern, which I think is not typical for a quartz and is a feature we like. Also, our installers did an awesome job with the seams, you can barely tell that they are there (we used Cabinet Discounters in the DC area, installers were CreativeIncounters). We got the simple waterfall edge and are very happy with that.

I should add that we also liked the polished finished in the Raven, as it still provided a nice clean look. When we ordered our counters in July 2008, polished Raven was on backorder until September 2008, so that made the decision to get the honed a little clearer. We also considered Silestone and other quartz manufacturers, but found nothing that we liked more than the Raven color. So we picked Caesarstone more because of the color choice than anything else.

I should also add that we really liked concrete counters (and in a moment of insanity considered making our own concrete tops) and this top has a little bit of a concrete look to it, in that it is not shiny. It is, however, much more affordable than concrete.

PRICE

We found that the price of quartz tops varies a lot depending on where you go. Cabinet Discounters had the best price for Caesarstone in the DC area that we found. In terms of price shopping, we found that the best thing to do is to ask for a bottom line/final price. The "per square foot" price means nothing as there can be fees for making certain cuts, doing certain edges, installation, etc.

We did not consider granite or other types of stone too much so can't speak much about them. We can say that (in our area - DC area/Northern Virginia) we found that granite and quartz are comparable in prices, with price differences being more related to the color you select than whether you go with granite or quartz.

We hope this is helpful to people. We thank everyone that posted about quartz tops in the past because it really helped our decision, especially smarge and quantumkitten who posted about their polished Raven.

Good luck!