The XD's are pretty nice but I'm in favor of the Dessert Eagle myself. I'm planning on picking up one in .40sw. I'm looking at the poly frame (made in Germany by Walther) with the SS slide. Has a great feel and some pretty cool features on it. It's striker fired but my understanding is it can be decocked to DA mode like a hammer gun can.
There's a little review here on it:
http://www.guns.com/reviews/magnum-r...e-fast-action/