I dont know how much CIJ fender strats are in your end of the world but they available here in OZ and they awesome.
I find the neck and fretts on squire and standard mexi's are a bit small and add to the cheap feel. most standard Americans have jumbo medium fretts and rolled edges on the neck.
I pay more attention to necks as they are easily the most expensive thing to replace aside from the body itself. By the time you buy a decent neck, refrett to taste and setup the guitar, you can really run up quite a bill.
just my 2c worth.
