The Mexican ones just tend to be less consistent if anything
I know people with really good ones, and some with real shockers. I wouldn't recommend buying a guitar over the net or anything, make sure you play it (the actual one you're buying, not another Mexican one) first to see if you get on with it.

In truth, if your Squier is an early (Japanese made, with Fender branded machine heads) rather than a later (Chinese made) one, it's probably just as good if not a better lump of wood - upgrading the pickups will probably get you better result for cheaper than splashing on a new axe (note: this approach doesn't satisfy the new axe lust quite as much)

A friend of mine is a proper guitar wanker like Vai, Satriani etc, he has thousands of pounds worth of Ibanez, custom Jacksons etc etc, and on stage mainly plays his first guitar - a beat up Squier Strat! He has upgraded the pickups and wiring though...

Re. music players, I've seen some good iRiver and Creatives, although strangely for someone who loves music as much as I do I've never really used any portable players much. I dislike Apple because their products are style over substance. They're not cheap to the consumer but the cheapest hardware they can source, they sound naff and it'll break 367 days after you buy it...
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Tue 4 Nov 2008, 11:20, Reply)