I'm a Springfield Armory fan myself, but my first 1911 is a Kimber. Both good brand. I've heard nothing but good things on Springfield's customer service. If you want the authenticity of the original, then most people would go with a Colt 70's series.
Speaking of authenticity, most 1911s will come with some sort of lawyer safety device. For instance, Colt has their 80's series firing pin safety. Kimber, and Smith & Wesson has their Schwartz safety. So look for manufacturer who produces 70's series type 1911s. Colt, Springfield, Wilson, Nighthawk, RIA, CZ/Dan Wesson, and many others all have 1911s with no firing pin safeties.
Quite a few of them also comes with external extractors. Kimber had problems with theirs and went back to the internal unit. Smith, and Sig has external units that works well. Then there is Springfield who has placed a MSH lock on their current production 1911s unless you go custom.
It's mostly what you want in terms of features. You can spend as little as $400 for one or you can spend upwards of $10,000 for one.
