Saw for Christmas? - Page 2

Here is the route I would take:
just use a circular saw and saw guide at first
buy (or make) 2 saw horses
build a cutting frame to rest on top of the saw horses
a cutting frame is a rigid wood frame that you place the sheet on and you don't care about the saw blade cutting into it as you make the cut...it protects your saw horses
buy a router 2-3hp plunge router (I also have a smaller one that is easier to handle, but routing thick mdf and ply are handled easier with a large one)
buy an electric hand drill (a drill press is nice, but some holes are too far from the edge to reach)
build a router table top (and just clamp it to your saw frame you built earlier)
building the router table top is also good practice and doesn't have to look perfect (makes a good first project).
you can just use a good straight board for a router fence at first on your router table (just clamp it to the table at the correct distance from the bit for the operation you need to perform)

additional tools to pick up as you can afford:
small jig saw (good for cutting templates out of acrylic or ply for use with the router)
drill press
orbital sander (you won't need one until your first project is assembled)
router bits (you will have use for quite a few at first...straight bits, bevel bits, rabbet bits, round-over bits, slotting bit...there are always more bits I want)
clamps, clamps, clamps...start with at least 4 of the pipe clamps, some "C" clamps (for clamping the saw guide, router table top, and router fence)...you can never have too many clamps, so buy them whenever they are a good deal and you have some money

With the above tools, there are very few sheet projects I couldn't do (solid wood furniture is another story and would also need a jointer and a planer...or have another shop do that for you).

As big as you can fit. Honestly bang for the buck the better choice is to pick up a circular saw and make a guide for it. Personally I'm saving up for a Festool TE55

I would also recommend some sawhorses: Amazon.com: Stanley 11031 FatMax Telescopic Plastic Legs Sawhorse: Home Improvement seem to be pretty decent

srserl above has a good overall list; essentially what my plan has been since I've lost access to a wood shop.

Even though I have a large tablesaw, I use the circular saw and saw guide for large panels, then you could use a small table saw for the small cuts (cleats, grooves, etc). The only time I ever bring out my tablesaw is when I have a ton of grooves to cut because the dado blade on the table saw is much faster than the router. If I have only 3 or 4 dados to cut, then I just use the router in the router table (or hand held with a guide). For small cutoff things like cleats, I have a power miter saw that I use, or a hand saw (seriously).
Another cut that is faster on the tablesaw is cutting a mitered edge, but the router will still work for that.