Hey, Infinite-T, that was interesting to hear from someone who has both to compare them. (I have a Squire Strat, that's it.) I am frankly surprised you found the quality of the MIM's to be so lacking. I have heard different reasons (or opinions) regarding the two, so it's nice to have this viewpoint to add.

One thing I would ask is between your two Strats, is one or both Standard, or Deluxe? From what I've read, it would not be fair to compare a deluxe to a standard model. The deluxe seems to have all kinds of nice extras, like rolled fingerboard and such.