The OP has an interesting set of requirements, most of which aren't too difficult to satisfy. Except for one. "Benchtop". Were I him, I would ditch that right off the bat. A floor standing drill press can have a roll away cart built under it, giving the storage one has with a "benchtop" drill press (while the DP is ON the bench), as well as the storage still there the rest of the time, all in an OVERALL footprint no larger than a benchtop and the cabinet it lives in. The full size DP's tend to be more powerful as well.
That said, another option that is also pretty modest in size requirements is a small mill/drill. They have lots of torque, no belts to slip, etc. For THIS job, they'd be pretty darn good. However, they're pretty limited by their throat depth and spindle travel, so they aren't as flexible with other wood drilling as a regular drill press. Something that may be even better for this job is a hinge boring machine. IF you can get one that can handle a 2" bit. I don't know if such exist or not, but the cups of european hinges are basically what he's drilling, just 2" instead of 1 3/8". Such machines aren't cheap, but they are DESIGNED for production. One trick pony's, but my oh my they are really good at their trick. And not too large either.
Given that he's already worked out most of his jigging, I'd just say "go for the HF 3/4hp for now". If it does the trick, great. If it dies in the process, but does a decent job until it dies, then fine, use that warranty, finish the job with another. He'll have about 25 hours into drilling the holes. Not what I would call fun, but if he can make money at it and build his biz, then good.
