Is there a huge difference between real wood and press board when it comes to second-hand, thrift items?

Question

I am conflicted about which entertainment center to get for my new house from this warehouse thrift store that I found through Yahoo! Answers. It's called eMoneyBay, and at first I was leery of used stuff, but they actually have incredible bargains for good furniture. However, they kept saying "this is solid wood" or "this is press board," and some of the things looked exactly the same to me. I didn't want to appear uninformed, so I mostly just got what looked nice in terms of decoration, but asked them to hold onto the entertainment center for a couple of days. One entertainment center is "press board" but looks so beautiful! The other one is more standard and boring, but it's "solid wood." Now solid sounds better, but they look the same to me.

How can you really tell the difference, and does it really matter?

Answer 1

Yes, it matters. Pressed wood is far more likely to warp, sag, break, chip, and fall apart than solid wood. IMO, it's garbage.

Answer 2

pressed wood isn't as strong as real wood. Meaning that it'll scratch easily and show wear and tear.