There's pluses and minuses to each. Belts need to be replaced, but direct drives have many more moving parts to keep in order. If you have a nicer cartridge, a belt will be a little quieter than a dd. If you want to DJ all that info is moot, and you'll need a dd.

Basically anything you're going to read about a sub $500 table is going to focus on the Music Hall MMF 2.2, the Rega RP1, and the Pro-Ject Debut. The Music Hall and the Pro-Ject both share a ton of parts, so there's not much difference there. They also both have a hum issue with certain cartridges, which isn't a big deal if you do your research beforehand. The Rega RP1 has its fans as well, I don't have any experience with it tho. You'd be googleing and reading the same stuff I am.

I have the Pro-Ject Debut III (mentioned earlier) with the USB upgrade. It's a nice table; Pro-Ject really strips down on extra features for the sake of offering sound quality. There's no automatic start or return, you change speeds by manually moving the belt, platter is only 10", and the tonearm doesn't have leads, but is wired all the way back to the platform (which is only a problem if you break one of the wires changing carts, which I found out the hard way). I'd say it's kind of like a car with a really nice engine, transmission and drivetrain with manual windows, no AC, and a cheap interior. You're getting better quality on the things that really matter at that pricepoint, but missing out on the luxury. They also recently revamped this table and don't make it anymore, but you can still buy it new for about $300.

The revamped Debut is the Debut Carbon. The main difference is a carbon tonearm, a significantly better cart, and a 12" platter. This table costs $100 more than the Debut III, and is worth every penny. It also puts it much closer to the Rega and Music Hall tables in terms of price. I like my Debut III enough to be jealous of the upgrades made in the new Debut Carbon, and have no problem recommending the table. It probably has the best cart and tone arm out of the 3, and is a really nice table right out of the box.

I also really recommend doing your shopping with the Needle Doctor: http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-Store/Turntables
Their prices are competitive and their customer service is amazing. You can do things like order a turntable with a upgraded cart and they'll mount it for you and answer questions for you all day long.