Good luck with your 1911 search, that was my first purchase as a newly licensed Class-A holder. Yes, the 1911 selection is limited in MA and there is an unnecessary premium on pre-ban colt 1911s. If anything, take your time with your research, I had just as much fun researching the various 1911 models as I did finally purchasing one. You are going to get a lot of opinions if you ask 'which 1911 to get' on a forum, take what you hear with a grain of salt. You are going to have avid Colt owners saying there is simply no other 1911, you have the race gun community telling you the benefits of a STI gun, you have the haters who hate certain make and model 1911s based on what else they themselves have read of other's opinion.
In the end, there are facts that will support your purchasing decision and stick those, not what joe schmo thinks is good for you. You said that you want a carry 1911, my first gun and one that i carried for a year was a commander size 1911; thinking the slightly shorter barrel will be better at concealment....well when that is the gun that you have, you will find a way to carry the darn thing. It was not the most comfortable gun I have carried but i loved every minute of it, but because of this experience i appreciate my Sig P-239 for carry in the coming hot summer days versus my 1911.
If it is a carry than it may be worth your while to look up ways to make the 1911 more reliable. But be careful, next comes the perfect holster and what do you know? Your 1911 addiction is now a full blown..
If you wish to try my commander size frame, pm me, you can take a look in person.