IMO the Epiphone Les Paul standard is one of the best guitars out there for your money. I have the Plain-top in heritage cherry sunburst. It looks amazing and sounds great too. I love it so much. I have played a few of the Mexican strats, and I didn't particularly like them at all. The neck was thicker than the les paul, and it just wasn't the tone that I was looking for. But the Epiphone Les Paul is a lot more my style. I play Classic Rock to early metal. I don't know your playing style or music preference, but in terms of overall sound and quality go for the Epiphone Les Paul. The way I look at it is, the Les Paul can do blues sounds easily with maybe a pedal, or a bluesy type amp, but I doubt you will be able to get AC/DC or Guns N' Roses tones out of a Mexican strat without spending just as much as you paid for it to get an amp or a bunch of pedals.