At the end of the day, the real question is what do want a tool/machine to do.
Yes there are folks that have very minimalist equipment that can turn out fantastic pieces, but that will usually come at a price somewhere else in the process.
In my opinion, forget about the fence and the table top for a moment. Those can be rectified one way or the other. What you need is stability if you plan to make furniture, and that only comes with size and weight.
Do you need a 5HP, 1200lb. behemoth with a 14" blade? Probably not. Yeah it's nice to be able to rip 8/4 hardwoods with no effort, but how much 8/4 material is a person in home/garage shop ripping? Not much. Your 95% material is going to be 4/4, semi hard, domestic, hardwoods and plywoods, but some of those pieces of material can be wide, and long. They'll have weight, and the weight of the material needs to be supported and controlled. A bigger, heavier, machine, will provide more stability. Yes, you can come up with all sorts of outfeed tables and roller stands to overcome the limitation, but starting out with 500lbs. of support, sure does go a long way.
I tipped over a 6" Jet jointer with an 11' long, 14" wide, 4/4 piece of Brazilian Cherry, and during that same project, a different board, but just as heavy, almost tipped over my 300lb. General 50-220C Hybrid saw.
The Sawstop debate will go on, but if it is truly furniture and cabinets that you know you want to make, then start out with a 3HP cabinet saw. Give yourself the stability and mass from the very beginning.
Just my opinion.
To be fair though, some of those jobsite saws are really nice, and will produce a dimensioned piece of material every bit the equal in quality to a larger saw. The difference is that you will exceed what should reasonably asked of a jobsite saw rather quickly.
PS
To fix the weight limitations of my General Hybrid saw, it now has a Delta shaper for an outfeed table. Both machines combined are 650+lbs. with a 26"x 72" footprint, is very stable. 
Last edited by Mike Cutler; 01-30-2021 at 2:35 PM.
"The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)
Reply With Quote