ALWAYS go to court. In a lot of cases the cop and/or judge will cut a deal and give you something less. 3 things I learned in business law: never admit anything, never plead guilty, and never take the breathalizer (yeah not doing this will probably put you in jail, but I guess my instructor's contention was that once they have hard evidence from the test, no lawyer can help you).
I've been pulled over twice for speeding, 83 in a 55, and 74 in a 55, and once for rolling thru a stop sign (which I didn't do). I have ZERO points on my license. The 83 in a 55 I just had a cool cop that let me off with a nonmoving ticket, the other 2 I went to court for and they just made up another thing that resulted in just a fine.
One thing's for sure though, you'll be losing money no matter what