I have the TS-200 myself, and I find the sliding carriage almost as indispensable as the stand!
(If you do go for it, one tip: bear in mind when you assemble it that the furthest forward that the carriage needs to go is just far enough for the fence to clear the front of the blade; if you leave too much run-off past the blade, you limit the length of things you can fit because you can't pull the carriage back far enough to fit them in front of the blade. I've been putting it off, but I really need to move mine for just this reason.)
It's my first table saw, so I can't compare it to personal experience with other saws, but I like it. It has the big advantage over many in its class that it has an induction motor; when it's running but not cutting, I can barely hear it over the noise of my dust extractor! I did go for the whole package, because I wanted the sliding carriage and the leg stand, and IIRC when I got mine it made the extension table cost something like £15 and it seemed silly not to. That said, I've not assembled the extension yet, although sooner or later I'm going to have to!