The time spent on building a guitar top, correctly, is likely to cost several times that of the raw materials themselves. It would seem pointless, therefore, to use laminate (or "plywood" as the rest of the world calls it) although there are several who aren't even using wood.

Anyone looking for a decent sounding guitar on a budget shouldn't, however, be carried away by the fact that a cheap instrument may have a solid top. In order to get the benefit from a solid top, the luthier has to know what they are doing and a cheap laminate top guitar, properly put together, can sound as good or even better than one with a badly built solid top - and, ultimately, be more durable.
Ray