Having done a lot of reading it seems there are a lot of good 1911s out there in the right price range. Colt is THE name with historic cachet, but Springfield Armory, Smith and Wesson, Kimber, STI, Ruger and Remington all have good reputations. Heck even the inexpensive Rock Island is highly regarded by a lot of shooters. It would seem that it is kinda hard to go wrong.
I guess I need to decide if cachet of the pony is worth the extra price. Thanks for all the good comments.