Well, $500-$1000 will get you into the nice and new territory, or some more premium used. It's an industry that's seriously overloaded with marketing hype and chuds showing off their new toys. The turnover is akin to computer hardware or new cars, they're always coming up with some new bang wiz to bring to market with few substantiative changes. Many of the changes are just for feel and comfort, they're not getting much more accurate or reliable. Most outliers are just poorly built guns that aren't reliable or accurate.

Like the S&W Shield, first generation was a game changer but the trigger wasn't for the aficionado. The shield plus fixed that, and the new shield x has a more comfy grip and they put a light rail on it. It's just a bunch of little features that they milk the market for, then the guy who has to have the latest and greatest says "I don't want this old toy anymore" and sells it. And some makers will make it so each iteration doesn't have compatible magazines or parts, and the cycle continues. Some manufacturers make barely any changes tho, like Glock.

But at the end of the day, they all do the same thing - go bang. And if you train with it, you make it go bang and hit where you want it to more often than not.