I was the district mgr for Bruce so let me give you some info. Both site and factory finishes have their pros and cons. Prefinished has an aluminum oxide finish that is very durable and will perform very well and easy to care for. Bevels add a design element and help even out any subfloor irregularities. They are more diminsionally stable. There a little more to construction than 'pretty wood on plywood'. Stability is one of the biggest reasons. They will never need to be sanded, just a screen and recoat will make them look new without resanding. If you have a bad scratch etc you can replace that board, but with site finished you will have to resand the entire floor.

We have very good experience with Floor Muffler Acoustical underlayment with 73 and 74 STC and IIC rating, vapor barrier and self sealing tape. See the picture.

I would say that it just depends. The best thing would be to talk to a realtor in your area as there are a lot of factors that can go into this. It depends on what level of house you have and the neighborhood it is in. Who would most likely purchase your house? If your house is higher end and would likely appeal to a family that is established and has a decent income, vinyl or laminate could both be a very poor choice. However, if your home is on the smaller side and most likely to appeal to a family just starting out, then either one could be acceptable.

Sorry - there isn't anything to be done. Either live with it or remove it. Laminate is a PHOTOGRAPH. Like any photograph that has been beaten up and the faces scratched out - there is no way to repair it. It is better to print off another photo and replace it. The floor in a rental unit has a life expectancy of 7 years. If your laminate gave 5-7 years of life, then it is done. You *might be able to use a HORRIBLE product such as Mop & Glo or any "temporary" shine restorer...but it will make it MUCH worse. It will look OK for about 6 months...then it will look worse than it does today. Then you reapply more shine stuff...and then more...and then more until it looks like you have a THICK layer of candle wax on the floor (because that's kinda what you have done). At THAT point you can rip it out and start again. Because at THAT point, you have truly ruined the floor. There is no saving it. I would give it 18 months at most. If you have a renovation going on already, then it is probably best to remove this stuff and replace it now. It will give you the best possible chance of getting another 7 years out of the floor. Good luck. Replace it today, or replace it tomorrow. It is your choice. This is what laminate offers in a rental: cheap flooring that is easy to replace.