My unsubstantiated impression is that the bits you get at the "home-improvement" retailers are likely to be lower performance (and only a dollar or two lower price) than what you get from a woodworker's dealer like Woodcraft or Rockler. (Woodcraft is in Raleigh, Greensboro and Charlotte; Rockler has an affiliate in Asheville. Here in St Louis we have both; and St Charles Hardwoods carries Amana and there was a place in Kirkwood that had Bosch bits. In the past I have been pleased with mail-order service from MLCS and Eagle America.)
Yes, if you have to pay straight list price start with a straight-flute, carbide edged, bit with 1/2" cutting diameter, 1" cutting length, and 1/2" shank. Make sure it has cutting flutes on the END of the bit, so you can plunge it into a workpiece without starting at an edge or pre-drilled hole. (I think they all do these days, but that wasn't true in the past.) Then compare it to what you'd pay for additional features, such as a LOWER pilot bearing or spiral flutes, evaluate the fiscal WAF, and act accordingly. For reference, here's Rockler p/n 90550:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=25325&site=ROCKLER . The basic straight bits are often used as loss-leader sale items but it's not unusual to find sale prices on bits with more features - for example, the Woodcraft p/n147239 at
Buy Woodriver 152421 Pattern Cutting Router Bit 3 4 D x 1-1 4 CL x 1 2 S at Woodcraft
Dale