Kim,

First off, I'm a tool whore, so take this with a grain of salt.

I've found many uses for a surface planer and I've always used one of the mass market models, my current model is a Delta and it's OK. If you think you will do any other type of woodworking, get one. It will open up a world of possibilities for you. Keep the blades sharp and learn how to mount them and you'll be happy with it. A noisy planer is a sure sign they need sharpened/adjustment.

On the other hand, sure you can use a table saw to rip the strips to a consistent dimension. The difficulty will be to keep the strip straight or level. On the second rip when you are setting the width of the strip, use a long rip fence (or add a board to extend it) to minimize the variations along the edge, which would have been the top/bottom of the stock. Keep the board relaxed and don't push the edge into the rip fence at the blade. It will save you around $350 or more.

What's faster? That is subjective, the surface planer will require multiple passes to get the thickness right, flipping top to bottom as needed, but is easier, is self feeding, more fun and the end result has no saw marks. Versus each strip needing at least three rips.

HTH
-mac