Perms have definitely moved on since then. Invest the money in it though. Go to a good quality hairdresser and spend the cash on a good perm.
They do still dry the hair out, unfortunately, but the curls can be softer and more natural looking these days.
You will need to spend time styling your hair in order to get it looking its best. Remeber that if your hair is fairly long then it will pull the curl down, so you will need to blow-dry upside down and very slowly to add extra bounce to your curl. Then you'd finish by using a cool setting and taking sections of hair in your fingers and setting the curls into 'groups'. That way it'll look more slick and elegant, or you can tousle it to look more 'surfer chick'.
I'm thinking about doing the same! :o)