Wood floors

Hi there,
OK, really not Eichler related...however help would be appreciated.

Wood for hallway and living room is heavily discussed at the moment. I decided on floating installation and will do it myself.

1) I found plenty of online sites but can somebody recommend a good source for a quality product decent priced. Free samples would be sweet, too... :wink:
2) I'm not into redish or yellowish wood and I'm not so familiar with the American woods. So maybe somebody can help me on that or prompt me to a site with all the woods. I like tones of grey or dark chocolate. Walnut and ash seems to get close to that. I prefer to go with the original color; staining dosn't sound right for me.
3) I prefer wide planks over narrow material.
4) Even when it's painful. Mutiple layers of aluminum-something coating might be durable but who knows what long term effect that has in my "environment". So, I'm thinking about something more "biological".

Thanks for the inputs in advance!!!
Carl