Like said here. Laminate is basically "plywood". But, that does not nessisarily mean cheap. Plywood is just thin wood sheets glued together to make "plys" very similar as a "ply" in a tire. 4 ply tire just means it if 4 thin layers of rubber or other material fused together. Same as "Ply" wood. it simply refers to it being thin sheets laminated together to make a substrate. Plywood is better in more rugged conditions, because they make the grains of each sheet opposing each other, so there is less cracking invloved, or the risk of cracking. The qulaity of the laminated wood reflects the quality of the plywood. I mean, if you laminate exotic woods together, it is going to be pretty expensive. In instruments, they use lessor quality (as far as cosmetic) and the top sheet being very cosmetic because that is the layer seen, and will have the final finish on it. laminates is steriotyped as being cheap. But, it isn't always the case. Depends of the type of plywood used. There are some lams, more expensive, and just as nice as a solid wood.
Finish, is the coating on the wood. They all should have some sort of finish on it, to seal the wood, and the grain. Gloss, and satin is just the sheen of it. Some use a satin finish, some use a gloss. But, all guitars should have a finish on it. With guitars, I have known people to sand the finish off the neck because they thought it felt smoother for sliding up and down the neck and easier to "shred". Only to cry about it later, because their neck warped. It warped, because without the finish that sealed the wood, let the wood be more delicate to it's enviornment and humidity, or lack there of, making it go from extreamly dry, to extreamly moist. Not to meantion soaking in hand and finer oils, and bacterias. The wood needs to be sealed, and there are many finishes to do that with, even paint.