After renting a lot of large caliber handguns the past couple months, including Glock, Springfield, S&W, Ruger, Kimber, STI, Beretta, Taurus, Sig, and Kahr, so far my favorites are the Kimber Custom .45, the STI Eagle 5.0 .40, and my own Ruger Security-Six .357.
Mainly I prefer blued steel, rubber gripped DA/SA in 4- or 5-inch barrels.
To me the biggest paradox is the concealed handgun. Should be light and compact for most comfortable carry, but horrible recoil and blast from the same features.
From what I read, I don't have confidence in the stopping power of 9mm and .38 and smaller although they are easier and cheaper to shoot.