Except for that little claim by the manufacturer about better dimensional stability with temperature and humidity variation. Should I decide for engineered over solid because the manufacturer claims that? i don't know. Solid has appealing advantages. However, I may never refinish it, but I can guarantee that at some time next winter the relative humidity in my house will be below 25%.
I had/have family in the midwest, too. They run the heater in the winter and it gets pretty dry in the house. I recall getting bloody noses from the dry in Minnesota. I don't recall my folks grousing about the hardwoods. On the contrary, when they removed the nasty carpet & padding and discovered them, they were delighted. And htey were touted when they sold the house.
I think your best bet is to talk to some neighbors and ask them if they have hardwoods. If they respond with, "Yeah and we love them," you are probably fine. If they complain about humidity variation causing problems, not so much.
I am biased toward the real hardwoods as I know guys who can fix them such that after years of water damage, you can not tell where the repair began. On hardwoods that were installed in 1959. Not sure if any engineered equivalent will still be in production or match-able in that fashion some years down the road. Somehow, the claims seem to be of the "easy to clean Naugahyde fabric covering" sort of selling point relative to leather seats.
I am down with some engineered timber products. Gluelams & other structural bits are really nifty.
