Dave:
To answer your question:

Under your circumstances I would recomend a bench top planer. It will
do a good job for you and with your limited use, the unit will last
for years. Only if I was buying 150 bd ft or more at a time and
wanted to surface that much material at a time would I consider a
larger floor model. Good luck and happy woodworking!
Mike from American Sycamore

"Dave" wrote in message news:YgZld.225864$%k.192568@pd7tw2no...
As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to be
the last planer I buy. I plan to make home furniture as a hobby, probably
low volume over a few decades. Portability is not an issue, and I do have
220v access with a good size shop. Is there a steep improvement in final
product quality with larger floor models? Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do it
over again, which size would you buy?

Dave