Jason,
In my very humble opinion, you should go with the engineered. You've been to my house (not that I really expect you to remeber the floor) but with a decent engineered floor, it looks identical to "real wood", and until you pull it up, there is little or no way to tell the difference. the engineered stuff is actually "tougher" than real wood, unless you go with some exotic hardwood, which none of us could afford.
I think the laminate stuff looks fake, and so far I have not seen one yet that looks remotely real. If your doing it around the washer/dryer, prolly not going to make a difference, but if your doing it in a "social area", spend the few extra $$ and go with something that will not only last, but will look fairly good in the process.
Just my $0.02
Erik
