Wood floors and Laminate floors have their place in the home. What is best for you, may not be for someone else. So when you ask someone a question like this you will get a large range of answers. The real question should be which floor is best suited for my home?
Laminate floors are not designed to replace hardwood floors, but to give you a different option. When it comes to the look of hardwood, you can not match it 100%, it is close, I like to say it looks about 99% like wood once down, but you may notice that the look is slightly different. The higher the quality of the laminate the more realistic the looks can be. When you purchase a lower-end laminate you will notice a few things that cause an issue. One thing that stands out after it is installed is the number of patterns produced in a box. If you buy a cheaper laminate floor they normally have 1 to 3 patterns per box and that means that you can see a repeat of the same design over and over again. That doesn't look real. But with a high-end laminate floor they may have as high as 5-14 patterns per box and they may even shift the pattern so that it doesn't land in the same spot each time. They also can have a texture that creates more realism.
The stain, dent and scratch resistance of laminate out performs wood without a doubt. However, the floor can not be resurfaced in the future. So you should figure that most high-end laminate floors will need to be replaced within 25-30 years, whereas wood floors can be refinished and last for 100's of years as long as it is maintained properly.
So which is best is determined by what your needs are more than the product itself. However, no matter the type of floor that you decide to install in your home get a quality product and then you will have less issues with your floor now and in the future.