One of the "best bang for the buck" brands seem to be Fuji. Places like Performancebike and others have them not just $100 off retail, but several hundred off. (and if you don't have a performance affiliate in your state, you may skate out of both shipping, and tax!)
Also, as mentioned above, the used market (Craigslist,etc.) can be a gold mine. I'd start checking Craigslist a couple times every day, and have your cash handy. I recently lucked into a clean,low miles 2014 Fuji, with Shimano 105, for $350 ! The virtually-same bike for this year retails for $1500, and sells on big price drop around $1200. And if I was closer to The Big City (Atl), the great deals are much more common, from what I'm seeing.