If I had access to a Valor here in MA, I would most certainly have one-it's an excellent gun with a LOT of features for the price. You will not regret that one. It's basically a custom gun, really, and they could probably get away with charging a few hundred more for it without any problem. The extra $150-200 is well worth it compared to other things in that price range, and from everything I have heard, DW has excellent customer service. It is also probably the single best looking 1911 on the market around this price (or even a good amount higher!).
Don't sell STI short, they make one hell of a pistol. Their $1000ish pistol, which I think is the Spartan, would also be hard to beat even with $2000 to spend.
Also, take a look at the S&W Performance Center line-this is what I own. I bought mine "used," though it had never been shot. I have been extremely impressed with this pistol, although like I said, it has had a couple rounds not go into battery. The extractors are external and huge, and they function absolutely flawlessly, and don't have to be tuned or anything like that. They are supposed to retail for a pretty penny, but in reality you will find them for much much less than retail. Mine was supposed to retail for around $2400, and I got it for $1000 less than that. You can find them on gunsamerica.com (where I found mine) for a great price, and possibly on the forum here as well. By the way, when I mentioned the hiccups mine had (about 8 in over 1000 rounds), they were all with the very cheapest of ammo. With good HP's or other decent ammo, the thing gets boring to shoot, and at 20 yards I can aim at the first hole I make and just make it bigger, with every shot touching. I have not had a single person who shot this gun say anything other than "wow."
I had to save for a while to get it, but it is worth it. Check them all out, but in the end, if you can find them for a decent price, I think they will outperform, or at the very least be right on par with the DW and STI, though probably a bit better (I mean, you have to pay Les Baer extra to guarantee this kind of mechanical accuracy). Go play around with all of them, and I'm pretty sure you will not make a mistake with any of these three, and probably a couple others.
One other thing I can advise is not to overlook used guns. You can probably find some great deals on pistols that might otherwise be out of your price range (as I did) from someone who is moving or just has more guns than he gets a chance to shoot. Gunbroker.com, gunsamerica.com, and the sale forums on this site and others can yield some absolute steals.
Good luck in your search, but with options like these, I doubt that you will have a problem finding an excellent pistol to suit your needs!