I would stay away from autoordinance- stick with Colt, Springfield inc, and Kimber if you want a quality handgun at a decent price.
If you want a basic model I would go with a Springfield Mil-spec.
Here's a site where a pistolsmith has done some serious torture tests on a springfield G.I. milspec- its a pretty good read if you follow his links.
http://thehighroad.org/showthread.ph...threadid=81964
The standard milspec is pretty much the same pistol as the G.I. milspec, except with better sights, a lowered and flared ejection port and grasping grooves on the front of the slide- they sell for around $450.