Review this thread: Kitchen Flooring : for what my 'opinion' is regarding flooring in the house (generally speaking.) It differs from chad's. I WILL say that I'm not a Pergo or laminate fan so it influences my opinion. Along w/the experiences of the Posters on the Forum, it only adds to my woes. Certainly, having a quality-oriented Installer says a lot for a product. But it's my 'feeling' that is so much attention has to be paid to details, the job (or material for the job) is too much for a DIYer.
Again, that's my $.02. My best to ya and hope this helps.