By "Compact" I assume you mean the commander-length slide with the officer's-size grip.
I bought one of these last month and I'm totally satisfied with it. Mine is a lightweight model, aluminium frame (26 oz. unloaded, not too bad), matte blue finish, "loaded". I paid what the other guys paid.
As to your question about the grip, mine came with checkered-cocobolo grips. They're thin and classy looking. I can fit all four of my fingers onto the grip, but my hands are medium sized. If your hands are too large for the Compact and this troubles you, buy the Champion (commander) model instead.
The recoil is unremarkable. I compare it to a midrange .38 special. The lightweight Compact certainly has less recoil than a lightweight .38 snubbie.
I had heard people talk about muzzle flip in compact .45s, too, but this pistol's muzzle flip is not bad. I think that the weight distribution (more weight in the front of the pistol relative to the all-steel version) and the increased barrel-to-grip length ratio make the lightweight Compact balance better than the all-steel Compact or any Ultra Compact (officers' model).
As for accuracy, I find that the pistol is more accurate than I am. I'm by no means a marksman, and my Compact put six rounds into a single, ragged hole offhand at 7 yards on its first trip to the range. That was good enough for me.
In the reliability department, there were no failures whatsoever in 100 rounds of Hydrashoks and practice ball.
Buy the pistol. I doubt that you'll be disappointed!