IMHO, a good $150 unissued Yugo M59/66 will give you better accuracy, be as reliable and certainly as fun as any sub-$400 AK out there. And the extra cash saved buys a couple cases of ammo.
I have a cheaper AK, and while it is fun, I find I like shooting the SKS's far more. Maybe that's why I have three SKS rifles and only one AK too.
Even my Norinco and Sino-Soviet SKS's put the cheap AK to shame.
A top-o-the-line AK may be a whole different ballgame, I'll admit.