Can you put a riser block in the Ridgid? That's something to consider if you think you might want to do some of your own resawing at some point.
One thing to think about is how you will handle upgrades and other service/repairs, replacement of parts if necessary, etc. For example, if you buy a Jet machine from Amazon, as I did (several machines), and you have a problem with it, Jet tech support will be only minimally helpful. It's not that they don't try, or that they're not plenty generous with sending replacement parts, but they aren't very knowledgable (in my experience), and ultimately the diagnosis and fixing of the problem will be up to you. You're not likely to be taking a big, heavy machine to any repair shop or anything. So, you become your own mechanic, and that can involve a learning curve, unless you're already very good with machinery. I don't know about Ridgid, whether you might get service assistance through your local Home Depot or what, but you might want to look into that.
You will almost certainly have some problems with a machine and/or want to make some improvements on it. I don't think I have a single machine in my shop that I'm using "out of the box". Think of a new machine as sort of a kit that is not complete until you've tinkered with it, upgraded some parts, etc. You'll probably have another $100 at least, and a fair amount of time, into each machine before you're really up and running smoothly.
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Amazon has free shipping on them but would be a pain if anything was wrong. What to do! Or do I just settle for the delta jointer and bandsaw from lowes? Also, to save a few bucks, would getting a benchtop jointer be acceptable or better to go for the floor standing? (I think I already know the answer to that question) 
