For the most part, other than the rebate stuff, I normally use some cheap khypermedia blanks, they are usually cheaper then most other brands and usually come from the same manufacturer that tdk, imation, etc use.
If you really need good quality blanks, you should go for ones made by Taiyo Yuden, they are considered to be some of the best cd-r blanks you can get. I know that Fuji and That's cdr both use this manufacturer, other than that you might need to do some more research.
As has also been said before, it comes down to preference and what brand your burner has less problems with (some burners have no problems with anything thrown at them).
This is a link to a post that may help you you understand about cd-r media.
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?threadid=61943
If you can't get to it, i'll post it so that you can read it.