The answer very much depends on what you plan on cutting. A 12" blade will give you a greater depth of cut which is useful for thicker material (beyond 2x) and taller mouldings. You'll also pay a bit more for the blades. A slider allows you to cut wider material, generally up to about 12".

You do want an accurate saw that is easy to adjust. For example, corners are rarely 90° so when cutting moulding you want a saw that can easily be set for 44 1/2° or 46°. It should also return to zero accurately without having the check before making a cut.

The DeWalt DW715 would probably be a pretty good choice and within your budget. All saws come with a "general purpose" blade but if you're doing finish work, you'll need to buy a better blade.

I'd be interested in what kind of projects you're doing, first. We had a lot of issues with sliding compound miter saws in the past, and I haven't found a better 'value' than my current Hitachi, but then again, I don't have the need for a slider.

I'm doing some shelf projects right now and also building a simple banquette.

Not a pro; I just fool around; but I agree completely with klem1. If you live in/near the country, I suggest you go to a home site auction where lots of tools are listed. If I had known about them years ago, I would have gotten all my tools via that route. I once got a 3H.P. Jet table saw with extended table for $120. You can't expect a deal like that at most auctions, but you could pick up a decent saw with plenty of other stuff for $300. You do have to stand around a lot. Actually, if you get to an auction and find 30 to 50 guys standing around looking at tools (instead of only 5 to 10), other than hanging around for an introduction; you would be better off waiting for another auction rather than waiting for prices to be bid up beyond reason.

;Like said above a lot depends on your projects. Framing a barn will have different needs than building a jewelry box. For me (wide variety of furniture construction), a table saw is my most-used equipment. Besides cut-offs, it does ripping, miters & bevels, sheet goods including plastics, joinery of all sorts, even occasional re-sawing. There are lots of widows and heirs out there selling off dad's/grandpa/s wood shop full of solid used equipment. I would personally avoid most things Craftsman made in the last 40 years. Craig's List, auctions and estate sales would be good places to look. I have a miter saw now, but went without it for 25 years and did not miss it much. Now I typically use for quick cut-offs when the table saw is set up for something else.

I second (or third?) what's been said above: a good table-saw is more versatile and I use mine more than my compound miter saw. Think of it this way: a miter saw lets you cut long boards to length, while a table saw lets you cut sheet goods and solid wood to width and length (as long as they're not too long), at the same range of angles of most miter saws (0 to 45) and also make joinery cuts such as dados or rabbets. That said, it's taken me a lot longer to become familiar with accurate and safe table saw techniques, compared to the miter saw.

If you really want a miter saw, there are many decent options for under $300. Pick one with good capacity and versatility (e.g., tilting left and right) rather than fancy features like laser guides (don't rely on those - get a good angle gauge instead). If you want a table saw, you can either plunk down $$$ for a new one, or find an older one and then gradually upgrade components (link belt, new fence, nice miter gauge, etc.).

Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

I'm going to take a little different tract; given my age, there is just no way I can move sheet goods (say...a 3/4" sheet of 9-ply), onto a table saw. IMHO, a good circular saw and rail system (think Festo, although others make them), works just as well. Pair that with a decent 10" compound miter saw, and there's nothing you can't do that a table saw can (well, normally).

Heck, we used to build cabinets on-site just a couple decades ago with a circular saw for the plywood and a guide rail.

Like all the dadoes for those shelves in those cabinets?

Actually, I'm getting up there too and have some trouble handling a full sheet. In those cases, I take an appropriate (usually slightly over-sized) cut with a circular saw and trim up the divided pieces on the table saw. If I'm really doing a two or four feet equal division, I just work carefully or set up a support area.

I use a router for dadoes.

I too would opt for a used table saw. With the advent of small portable table saws and track saws there are a lot of good contractors saws on the market for a couple hundred bucks, and if you watch for a while you can score a decent cabinet saw in that price range. Old Craftsman saws are plenty good-- I bought my '50's vintage one for about $80 and sold it for $90 after 10 years of use. I'm sure it's still going strong. I got by with it plus a router, $5 circular saw, and hand drill as my only power tools for a long time. Just make sure you get a good fence with it. Bearings, belts, and even motors are easy to replace.

It's the most versatile of the saws unless you're doing straight carpentry, in which case a simple chop saw would be my first choice. It is, of course, a slippery slope, and you'll soon end up with a garage or basement full of tools ;-)

I also use a router for dadoes. But since it sounds like the OP is trying to not accumulate tools (which is a totally separate hobby of mine!), getting one do-almost-everything saw might be preferable for them.

I keep hearing track saws can do anything a table saw can do. Well, except rabbets, tenons, dovetails, coves, box joints, miters on moldings, bridle joints, tongue & groove, splined miters, keyed miters, drawer corner joints, scarf joints, compound miters, halved joints, round tenons, and probably a few more. But they cut sheet goods, make basic crosscuts and rips fine, as long as you don't mind setting the track each time and getting it right instead of relying on a fence or miter gauge setting.

I'd buy a $200 Ryobi sliding 10" mitre saw - and a couple of really good quality blades to total $300. Three things matter - the saw, the blade, and the person.