para made alot of inivations in the 1911, the pxt, the lda trigger which yeah i know goes against the original design of the 1911, but as a fan of dao type triggers, i love it, the lda is a great trigger IMHO. they were the first to do the high cap frame, and that is cool, not for me, but lots of people like them.
i have experience with 2 para's, one c 7.45 with lda trigger, it was so reliable that it would seriously feed .45acp brass, i didn't believe it either until i watched it. it was accurate, and fun and easy to shoot.
I also had a few outings with a tricked out custom high cap model, it was great as well.
i have shot/ trained with many kimbers, just to name a few the custom tle, pro tle, pro covert, grand raptor, pro tactical, custom 2 and too date every one that i shot was accurate, reliable, and easy to shoot, i personally think that some of kimbers best work is in thier commander size guns, and i especially love thier aluminum framed models.
i think both companies do great work, and really to me it would be which company out of the two makes a model that meets my needs and wants the closest.