Hey there OrangeZ06... long time lurker, very infrequent poster, but figured I'd weigh in here as I just helped a buddy find a reasonable deal on a new notebook. You might want to look at this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...direct-20&th=1
Comes in under budget and already has the SSD, which I recommend like many others here. I have five PCs at home (three notebooks, an all-in-one and a desktop) for the family and have retrofitted SSDs in all of them if they didn't already have it. It's the single best thing you can do for performance. You get more battery life too...
I have a Lenovo Y50-70 and my wife has an HP x360, though without the backlit keyboard (got the i5, 8GB, 128GB SSD for $350-ish I think, couldn't pass it up). I think you need to get the Envy model for the backlit keyboard... There's nothing wrong with any of your options but this Acer also gets you another upgrade that most of those, at <$600 wont have. Discrete graphics. Yeah... it's *just* the 940MX but it's better than the integrated graphics and the CUDA comes in handy if you're ripping movies, light gaming, etc.
One other notable feature that will address an issue others have brought up about the SSD is... where do you put all your music, movies, etc. since you're limited on space with the SSD, compared to a conventional drive? Since the SSD in this model is an mSATA unit, vs a 2.5" notebook SSD, there's an open space in the notebook for a conventional 2.5" drive. You could add a 2TB drive for "content", keeping the SSD for the OS and apps. $75-ish, probably... You don't have to hook up an external USB drive, or retrofit an SSD, or swap out the DVD for another drive bay. So you'd end up with the SSD for performance and the conventional drive for storage, without giving up your DVD.
That Acer is not a touch screen... probably helping them hit that price point. One miss there but you said that wasn't critical.
I don't know where in PA you are but... and CL can test your faith in humanity but... there's a Lenovo Y50-70, like mine on the Pittsburgh CL but a later model with more RAM, a bigger SSD and 4GB on the 960M vs 2GB, like mine. "Asking" $500 but he's a seemingly honest seller as he notes that it has a screen flickering issue. This is a *COMMON* problem with this model and often resolved with a BIOS and or driver/update. Usually it's limited to the integrated Intel graphics, since the Y50 has both integrated and discrete. If it's not that... it's a loose ribbon cable connection. Should be an easy fix. Quad-core i7 4720hq, 16GB, 512GB SSD, 4GB 960M. I thought about picking it up just to replace my daughters 3-4 year old Toshiba.
Anyways... I didn't really look up specs and features on the various models you listed. I may if I have time while I'm watching F1 practice here... I usually watch sites like techbargains.com and CL for "deals" Maybe woot. Also... it doesn't hurt to check the open-box, floor-model section at like... Best Buy. As a rule, they don't have the best deals but you can get deals on that shelf. My Lenovo was on that "open box" shelf. They had all open-box/floor-models marked down the typical amount, then one weekend they had another 20% off... made it like $785-ish. I grabbed the manager and asked if he'd take $700 for it. Sure, no problem. Score. Those and refurbs can *sometimes* be a great deal.
Somewhat unrelated, speaking of the rare CL transaction that goes well and is a great buy... Picked up a set of 18" Type 177s with Blizzaks for winter for $500. Bought new at the dealer and only used two winters. Guy was straight up, on time when we met, wheels and tires were as advertised. He listed them for $600, OBO... I offered $500. He agreed. Done. I'm thinking he had probably close to $2K in this winter setup since he got them at the dealer, brand new, at msrp.
Anyways... My approach is never to pick models first... I just watch for the best deals within a price range and I'm pretty brand agnostic. You seem flexible on the screen size and form factor (regular notebook vs 2-in-1) which helps keep your options open.