Colt 45 vs Sprinfield Armory 45 , Quality ?

..............Paid a visit to my local gun store today and was perusing the 45's as I always do . The had six different pistols on display representing four different mfgers , Taurus , Colt , one I forgot but it was the Lowest $ , and Springfield . The low$ was $529 and the high was $925 . Two Colts ne blue for $599 and a Stainless at $729(I'm not sure a bout this number). Next , two S.Arm. , one very nice stainless(the one I'll probably purchase) @ $899 and another stainless @ $925 . Not sure what the difference betwen these two is , I should have asked . I spent abount an hour with all four of these pistols just working their mechanicals , my very superficial conclusions are , that , the S.Ar's seem to be a higher quality product than the Colts . Plus , they just "Looked" better , you know the feeling you get looking at a Beamer(BMW) vs a Ford . I'll admit I'm not gun sophisticated so feel free to critique as necessary , I promise I won't send any a nasty PM . I welcome any info anyone would care to offer up , Esp. about Springfield Armory products . , thanks , fordy