Cobs are great and I love them, in fact my most smoked pipe is probably a Missouri Meerschaum Country Gentleman, but they don't last forever and for around $50 you can get yourself a really nice smoking briar pipe that will probably outlive you.
My two suggestions for about $50 would be any pipe from Rossi that strikes your fancy or a Morgan Bones. Rossi pipes are Savinelli seconds, meaning that they're just Savinelli pipes that had some cosmetic imperfections so they got sandblasted down and coated with a rugged black finish. They're still made from the same quality briar as the $100+ Savinellis though and smoke every bit as well!
Morgan Bones pipes are made from quality Italian briar that ended up being seconds as well due to cosmetic imperfections, but left in their natural state with no finish or coating applied. They're excellent smokers though and the wood darkens in a very attractive way over time as you smoke them.
Here's my Rossi Piccolo and Morgan Bones Milan for reference:
They're both wonderful little pipes and smoke every bit as well as my Savinelli and Peterson pipes that cost twice as much. They may not be the prettiest pipes in the world, but they are fantastic smokers!