ozperp...
all flooring has its advantages and disadvantages...
Real solid timber - looks good, feels great, its expensive, takes a long time to install needs to be sanded and coated which creates dust. you can expect to pay anywhere between $90 to $160 per square meter installed, depending on the species used. If there is damage or wear, it can be reasanded and recoated ( approx $25 per sqm ). I have Tasmanian Oak in my house, it looks great but I wouldnt use it again because its too soft and dents easy. (Toddlers!!)
Floating Engineered Boards - these look just as good as the solids but are usually cheaper and quicker to install. approx 2 to 3 days for 80 sqm. Prices for these are very varied and can range from $40 to $100 supply only. Quite easy to install yourself, but if you cant be bothered, you should allow approx $25 to $30 per sqm to get someone to do it. these floors dent just as easy as solids. You can tell if the floors are floating by the drumminess when you walk on it.
Laminates - these floors are bullet proof...very hard wearing and wont dent very easilty at all. I would use a laminate floor if; it was a rental, you have big dogs, or you have destructive kids (show me a kid that isnt destructive!)
The trade off is that they dont look very realistic in my opinion and all planks are basically the same looking, if you know what I mean...
Laminates are quite cheap, usually between $20 to $35 for the product only...same as engineered flooring in regards to installation.
Bamboo - Looks good, feels good, just like solid timber. Bamboo can be directly stuck to substrate or can be floated like engineered and laminates. Tha bamboo itself is very hard, however, the problem lies in its coating. Bamboo is finished using up to 7 coats of polyurethane coating (sometimes with an aluminium oxide coating, also) It is finished in a pressure controlled factory (somewhere in china) which gives it a flawless finish. This caoting is very hard, but also can be quite brittle, so if a heavy blunt object is dropped on th e floor, the coating can sometimes chip, which stands out like dogs bo**ocks...
By the way, you can get bamboo laminates, there basically a photo of bamboo laminated to an HDF board...just like normal timber laminates.
Hope this helps, and let me know if I missed anything!
Boods