Planers are one of the cases where the bench top tools are very good. I have a 12.5" delta. I plan to upgrade to a 15" floor standing model for the next machine purchase. But I just picked up 230 board feet of maple and hickory and plan to run all of that through the little planer.
Generally, the bench top planers leave a very good finish in normal grain. Figured grain tends to tear out, but chance are you won't be using that for now. You'll still want to sand with a fine grit when done, but the finish should be great.
You'll want some sort of dust collection with the planer. I use my benchtop without dust collection because I don't have the shroud, but I plan on trying to make one shortly. Make sure the planer comes with a dust shroud. If it doesn't, buy that also. I think for a benchtop planer, you can get away with using a shop vac for the dust collection. I also heard that there's a new benchtop planer that has a fan or something to eject chips. That could work also if you don't have a shopvac or something. Be prepared to sweep. Planing makes a lot of sawdust.
Amazon has two delta benchtop planers. I have an older version the cheaper one and it's served me well. One feature that stands out on the more expensive one is dual speed. If you can slow down the feed rate, you'll get a better finish. The finish I get now is so good though, I'm not sure how much better it would get.
Get the cheaper benchtop planer and put the extra money into the jointer.
brian