I find myself agreeing with "etc," whose advice solidly places him in the "old fart" category...
...oh geez, does that make me an old fart too?
I do think that someone new to the 1911 platform is well-served by learning about the basic gun first, and that only comes with shooting one a lot in standard dress. The bells and whistles will always be there if you want to add them, and want to pay for them (the majority of add-ons for the 1911 are intended to make money for the makers and vendors, not necessarily to improve the gun).
A 1911 *needs* a good trigger (this means clean, not necessarily light), good sights (this depends on your eyes; when I was 25 the standard sights on a USGI pistol were fine, at 45 they are not fine, and I've hung Novak Lo-mounts on three pistols so far), and reliability, with the last being most important. Don't be fooled into thinking reliability only comes with a gunsmith's pricey package. An OOTB Springfield, for example, can be 100%. Keep in mind the guns were originally designed for ball ammo, and they have anything BUT straight-line feeding. Still, a 90s-era Spfld (or a Kimber or Colt) is throated for JHPs and will feed and chamber them fine with proper magazines.
Magazines are another area where 1911s are unique. Buy a Glock or a SIG or a Beretta and factory mags are the best choice. Factory 1911 mags are normally *not* the best mags. I like two aftermarket mags the best, Metalform 7-round blue, welded followers, and Wilson/Rogers Series 47 7-rounders. The Wilsons are smoother and the nylon followers are slick and reliable, but I have never had a problem with the specific Metalforms I mentioned, and they are 1/3 the price of Wilsons (Champion's Choice has them for $11)
If you are traditional and willing to go through an older model and replace springs and any loose pins, a surplus Argentine Model 1927 (what some call a "sistema," a reference to the Argentine "Sistema Colt" or "Colt system" pistols) are a good buy. These are 99.9% identical to the USGI M1911A1 with only a couple minor cosmetic differneces like a checkered mainspring housing instead of the serrated MSH of the USGI gun. All parts interchange. ALL parts. These were made in the heyday of quality guns and are excellent building blocks for someone who wants a basic gun to build HIS way rather than KIMBER'S way or Spfld's way or Les Baer's way or bill Wilson's way. These can be had for $250, and mint samples are less than $400.
If you want the bells and whistles buy a "Loaded" Springfield. I also recommend Kimbers...but looking at the most RECENT Kimbers off the line I have some reservations--they most recent examples are not as nicely finished as they used to be. I don't know if this means Kimber is dropping quality to speed production or that I just happened to see a half dozen examples of Kimbers that didn't look as good as they used to look....
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Mark
