"Best"? Bit of a tall order here.
For a dedicated 35mm desktop film scanner, I still think Minolta's DiMage Scan 5400, all around, is a tough scanner to beat: genuine high resolution, a light source that's reasonably conventional-b/w-film-friendly (at least in the first version; don't know about the second version), multisampling capability, solid build quality, and, in the used market (about the only way to get them since Konica Minolta exited the photo biz not long ago), probably within your price range. Might have to look around a while for one, though – most poeple who have and actively use one aren't letting them go all that quickly.
As far as flatbeds go, it looks like Epson's V-series is the way to go, although I doubt you'll get the same level of results with one as you'd get with a dedicated film scanner. If you were working with larger formats as well, the Epson's all but a no-brainer.
- Barrett
