$400-600 bike,disc or rim [cantalever]brakes? better??

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;) hey all...
got question.
on a $400-600$ ish bike, which would be better to have in terms of stopping power or qaulity. disc brakes or rim[cantalever]??
hope that's the correct term.
also in that $-range which is more reliable?
and does one require less maintanence than the other?

i have read some things bout disc brake's ,but still confused.

thankssssssssssssss!!!!!!!! :D

Depends on your budget. Rim brakes can be made to stop just as well as discs but require alot more effort to tune them so. (hi-tech pads, cables etc) Discs hold the advantage as they work regardless of the state of your rim. You buckle it, they will still work. They also provide better stopping in the mud and the wet. Originally quite heavy, they have since lost a few grams and are as light as rim brakes.
But all this comes down to the quality of the equipment your running. Basic cable disc brakes (Tektro etc) work about the same as most V-Brakes. This is because lower-spec cables stretch alot more and pads arnt as refined. The same goes for lower-spec hydro brakes. They feature only a single piston and under hard breaking, the force is known to fade.

Maintenence wise, all require an element of adjusting every now and then. Disc brakes need to have the pads adjusted (via knob or allen key on either side of the caliper) as they wear...same goes for V-brakes but with Vs, you have to pay alot more attention to the state of your wheels as breaking is comprimised with buckled rims.
Maintaining Hydros is somewhat more difficult and expensive. Every now and then, you have to bleed them (chainge the fluid) and if you blow a hose, they are expensive to replace.

In a $400-$600 price range, Iwouldnt be expecting much My brother just got a '07 Giant Rincon and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the brakes (Shimano). In my opinion, opt for the the disc brake option as you get all the advantages of disc brakes adn you will have the oppitunity to upgrade later. My choise would be the Avid range of cable disc brakes (BB5 or 7) These are the best cable brakes ive used and have a similar stopping quaility to many lower-end hydros. Plus, you can get them really cheap of ebay. Hydros at this price would be overkill as they are quite pricey. If you opted for the rim version, you would have to muck around with getting disc-brake compatible wheels later and your frame/forks may not have tabs.

Hope that somehow helps you!
Good luck man.

;)
thanks for the info!!

yes it does help!