Easton Circiuits/EA70s are a good value wheel in the 300 to $400/pair range.
To make any wheel last longer, once a month or so pick the little silvers of aluminum and pieces of rock from your brake pads. Low end rims are bad about throwing off metal at the non-welded joint in the rims. If you hear a hissing sound when you apply the brakes, that is the sound of your rims being worn away by the junk in your brake pads. Use some high power reading glasses and a X-acto knife to dig out the stuff in the pads. I remove the pads from the brakes one at a time, it makes the surgery much easier, and avoids get the pads replaced in the wrong position.