There is no one saw that will cut everything- much like a professional chef will have a half dozen knives, or a woodworker will have chisels, planes, and saws, a metalworker will end up with a wide variety of ways to cut things, each suited to particular shapes, materials, speeds and finish qualities.
I have a whole arsenal of cutting devices, including 4 bandsaws, a cold saw, an ironworker, plasma cutters, a scroll saw, a panel saw, a table saw, and a shelf full of hand power tools.
However, if I only had to have one metal cutting device, that I would use in the most widely varied set of circumstances, it would have to be the lowly 4x6 horizontal bandsaw from taiwan.
It will cut round, square, pipe, flat bar, and tubing up to about 3" in diameter, and tilted up, you can cut small pieces of sheet and plate. You can notch, slit, and bevel with it if your are careful and patient. I sit on mine and cut 1/2" plate, or shapes from 16 ga.
Its pretty cheap- $150 to $300, depending on quality and vendor.
Its pretty small, its on wheels, and you can sit on it.
Nope, it wont do everything- throat depth is only 6", so creative tactic are sometimes called for- mark both sides of the sheet, cut 1/4 of the way, flip it, cut another quarter, turn it around, and so on.
But for a first "bench" saw, its what I would buy.
Personally, I like the Jet- better parts availability, and they usually run right out of the box, and the motors are generally (but not always) better.
I also agree with Peter that a cut disc in a 4 1/2" grinder is handy, if a bit sketchy in terms of safety. There have been many times, especially on jobsites, where one has saved my bacon.