What is a good mountain bike, that won't break the bank?

Okay so I want a decent cheap mountain bike.. You know like, one that doesn't cost $400 or more! I had one of those $150 mongooses, but it was AWFUL! First I had a complete front brake lock up! From just lightly pulling on the front brake lever riding down the road. I don't mean like the wheel locked up because I pulled the brake lever. I mean the brakes locked up and would not come undone. I worked on it for awhile, and I got that fixed. Then I went over a very minor bump in the road at a high speed, I didn't even crash or anything like that! But the stock rims got bent out of shape, and I had to take into the shop for a replacement rim. Then, My back brakes stopped working. It wasn't like they had a catastrophic failure like the front brakes did, they just simply wouldn't work. Well I gave up on trying to fix it for awhile, and spent more time trying to figure out how the brake system worked. I got a pretty good understanding of how the brakes work and I successfully fixed them. However they are already losing alot of tension and fast, and I don't even do alot of hardcore braking. I'm beginning to think it needs a new brake like. Then to finally end it all, today I was riding around. I jumped off of a 5 inch ledge... I kid you not, just 5 inches AT MAX. And that 5 inches was enough to somehow whip the rear derailleur into the spokes, and once that happened it was all over. I don't know how it happens, and I'm 100% sure that I did not hit it on the ledge when I jumped, because I hit the ledge perpendicular, making it litterally impossible for the ledge to have it.. The only thing I could think of is that that little jump was enough to whip it into the spokes. Anyways I'm tired of this piece of junk! What is a decent bicycle (specific model or manufacturer) that wont break the bank, or break when it drops 5 inches?