$ 1500 is a great budget to have. You should go to a shop that has all of these guns. Pick them all up and make sure you shoulder them like you are going to shoot. Find the gun that feels and fits the best and that is the gun you should get. Just because you have a budget that can pretty much get whatever you need doesn't mean you need to spend it all. I'm not saying don't spend the whole $ 1500... just make the priority finding the gun that feels the best, not the name that is going to sound the best.
I would definately go synthetic. I have three duck guns. SBE II, SX-3 and a Benelli M1 Field gun. The M1 has a wood stock which swells everytime it gets wet. Not great for a duck gun...
Good luck.