Best internet for the money

Many businesses feel they must go with a t-1 for their internet connection. Although this has been the industry standard for years it is not always the best option and it is almost never the cheapest option. Unless you are in a rural area you should have internet available from your local cable company , dsl from your local phone company or if you are lucky FIOS broadband internet.
Just for comparison with average monthly cost and speeds.

t-1 1500 kbps down / 1500 kbps up cost $350
Cable 10000 kbps down / 5000 kbps up cost $ 60
DSL 6000 kbps down / 1500 kbps up cost $50

Let's take the conventional wisdom that a t-1 connection is more reliable than a cable connection ( although in my experience that is not true ) is it worth 6 times the cost for way less speed just to pick up a very little amount of uptime ?
In fact if you just have to have 100% uptime get cable and dsl , have higher speeds, a backup connection and still spend way less money.