Not sure which 1911 I'm going to buy next, but any way I go, which finish do you think I should get. Parkerized or stainless?  I haven't made up my mind yet.

I like the stainless best myself as it shows wear less and holds resale better IMHO. I also like the looks of stainless better but I know that many prefer a dark colored gun.

I prefer parkerized.

It all comes down to whatever you prefer.  I have a parked baretta for the home and a stainless steel for the truck.  I often leave it in the truck and they do sweat with the temp. changes and the stainless is much better for this,  plus better finish wear.  Good Luck.

i like the looks of the parkerized better
h/w stainless is more durable, but too shiny imo

how about one of those durable coatings--i.e.: armor kote or wilson combats' kote?

I have a stainless 1991 and only went with it so I can do my own filing w/o having to refinish it. I don't like shiny guns. I prefer blued guns because I like the way they wear. With parked guns, switching out parts keeps you limited to blued parts mostly so there might be a slight color difference.

I prefer the steel guns over the stainless. Stainless is softer and will show scratches easier than blued or parked guns. Best of both worlds is to have your steel gun hard chromed. For the most part, you get the rust prevention of stainless with all the better points of steel.  If your comfortable with disassembling your pistol, and have access to or can have someone else bead blast it for you, you can parkerize it on the kitchen stove, its very easy to do. Out in th garage is better if you want to stay married.    You can also touch up small parts you filed on quickly in just a stainless sauce pan. Parkerizing is a good finish, I like better than blue, but it wont hold up as well as hard chrome, or some of the other finishes.

Depends on the maker and the model.

Generally, I am big fan of stainless, at least in quality revolvers.

The only stainless automatic that I have ever owned was a Kimber Classic Custom Target that shot like a house afire, and rusted like an old broken plow.
That was with regular cleaning and oiling. there was just no way to keep rust from accumulating in the slide serrations with daily scrubbing.

The funny thing is, my much older Kimber Classic Custom, with "black oxide" finish, has had minimal maintenance, and shows no appreciable wear and zero corrosion or surface oxidation despite daily use and handling.

Right now, I prefer parked guns.