Re: Fender's Highway Strat.???
The strat is suited to play any style of music you want with it....country, blues, rock, metal, jazz, you name it. The nice thing about strats is they are so moddable. The Highway 1's are routed with a humbucker slot at the bridge, and singles in the middle and neck. You can put anything you want in the bridge; fullsize humbucker, Lil' size humbucker, stacked single coils and traditional single coils. You can put anything but a fullsize bucker in the middle and neck. MIA's are routed H/S/H....even more possibilities.
Right out of the box the Hwy 1's are great guitars. The weak spot is the bridge single coil, but unless you're playing hard rock and metal, it should suffice for most other styles. I actually prefer the Hwy 1's to the standard American strats because of thin laquer finish. I feel it lets the guitar resonate better than the poly finish of the MIA's, but that's all personal taste. The finishes on the Hwy 1's are more delicate than the MIA's.
I think dollar for dollar the Hwy 1 is a great deal. The most important thing though is how does it feel to you when you play it? If you like the MIA better than that's the one that you should go with. Don't pass on the Hwy 1 just because it's cheaper. Play both and buy the one that speaks to you.