Many laminates outperform "solid" tops. I have one.
The Alvarez RD8 that I had was a laminate top and sounded almost as good as my Yamaha solid top. Laminates are built different today(the actually laminate, not the guitar) with new epoxies and processes used to make the plywood. Martin's HPL(High Pressure Laminate) is one example. With the Martin name on the line I really don't think they'd use a laminate if it didn't get somekind of decent sound.
Like has been said, try a few guitars and see which ones you like. If it's laminate then so be it but if it's solid that's good too. Get what you can afford and what sounds good to YOU.
