While asking the court for a public defender might seem kinder to your wallet, the saying "You get what you pay for" rings very true. Public defenders are by no means inexperienced or "bad" attorneys, but they are more often than not overworked, underpaid, and overwhelmed. Many public defenders have dozens of cases on their docket at all times, meaning that their attention is split into many, many different ways at all times. Often public defenders in smaller court systems will attend court sessions back to back, multiple days a week, representing up to 10 different clients a day.
Regardless of how good or smart an attorney is, attorneys make mistakes every single day, just like the rest of us. If your attorney is juggling 40 other cases, they're a lot more likely to do accidental harm to your case than if they're working at a private firm and only have 5 cases to worry about. And while you can file for ineffective counsel and ask for a new public defender from the court, there is no guarantee that your request will be honored, or that your new public defender will be any less busy.
If you're facing more than a few days in jail, or a couple hundred in fines, a public defender is not the right way to go. The average cost of hiring private defense counsel is around $8000. With prices as low as $1000, and as high as $15,000, there is no way to know your actual expected cost until you receive a quote from an attorney. You can also use criminal defense attorney listings in your area, or in South Carolina as a whole, to be able to narrow down your choices within your price range.