Tools, Sharpening and Power Machinery - table saws and dados

I am new to woodworking and home repair in general. I am in the process of building a new deck on our home and so far my circular saw has been working great. I have been looking at some plans to build some inexpensive storage cabinets for my garage but they all require dado type joinery. I don't have a table saw, but I am interested in purchasing one. I don't want to spend a lot of money on one. I was thinking in the 200-250 range if possible. My question is can I get an inexpensive table saw like a Hitachi from Lowes or Ryobi from Home Depot and use a dado set up. The plans that I have call for a 3/4" dado. Any advice on this subject would be great. Also any suggestions as to the model of saw would also be great.

you can, but just like almost anything else you get what you pay for, look very carefully at tables for how rigid it is and how the fence locks, also belt drive usually allows more adjustment but unless it has bearings instead of bushings the life span will be shorter. also the larger the table the easier long cuts and rips will be.

life begins when the kids leave home and the dog dies

First off..NOT A CABINET MAKER OR WOODWORKER here.....

Unless something has changed on the Ryobi, I'd look elsewhere. The only ones I've seen in the stores have plastic/nylon teeth and gears for blade angle adjustment. They discontinued the BT3100 I believe, which wasn't a bad starter saw.

You'd prob be better with a midgrade Delta or similar, not that I know much about table saws. Look for people upgrading and selling there old units.

I agree that a table saw with a dado blade is the simpleist way, but you could prob do a pretty good job with a router and a straightedge guide as well, and it would be cheaper and take less room than a quality tablesaw.

Check the Woodworkers Buying Guides or similar publications.

Look locally at estate sales, or garage sales and latch onto an older Craftsman if you can find one. I have a circa 1973 Craftsman table saw, and would LOVE to get a new fancy one, but can't justify it, since it won't break!. I also use the Ryobi BTS20 on my jobsite trailer. It works just fine, for site work, where most of what you are ripping is trim or smaller boards. The motor is their weakness, as I have known 3 (one mine) that have frozen up. The armature delaminates and jams everything up. Irrepairable at a modest cost. I had to buy a new saw for about $200 or a motor for $185. Replaced it with a BTS21, which features a nice slide tray on the left side. I like the portability.

There's a lot of innovation in some of the portable 10" table saws. For $250 your choices of a nice new one are few. I agree with the others that you can pick up a great used stationary table saw on Craigslist. If you want to get a new one look at the Jet saw at HD.