I had a Powermatic cabinet saw that we purchased new in the 1970's They are expensive new but not so bad used. I think I sold mine for around $800. I'd expect that if you bought one in decent shape, you could get all of your money back out of it when you decided to sell it.
Contractor saws are much lighter than cabinet saws. When I'm ripping a sheet of plywood, I want a saw that's going to stay put.
Mine looked about like this one:
