For much of my guitar-playing life, I've favored Fender Telecasters, but after I got into a group, I found that Strats are both easier for me to play and offer more versatility. So I bought an old Squier and I haven't looked back. My axe is also an HSS setup, with a pretty beefy bridge humbucker and milder single coils in the middle at the neck.
It was a cheap acquisition, and even after I had some work done on it, it came in below what a new Squier Classic Vibe '70s HSS would have run me. But I had to dig around to find it, and then I had to figure out how to get it up to snuff. Meanwhile, for $350, I could have had a gig-worthy Strat that would perform at the same level. No overthinking involved.
Classic Vibe Squiers are, as far as I'm concerned, the most stupid-good values in all of guitaring. I've sampled the best, US-made instruments Fender has to offer, and yes, they're worth every penny. But for grab-and-go playing, CV Squiers are amazing. And if you don't like something about them, you can always upgrade components and even swap out the necks.
I also own a cheaper Squier Strat — a roughly $200 instrument — and the move up in quality from it to the CV is astounding. That starter guitar is a fine thing, but the CV is worth the extra $150 for the neck alone.
My view is that Classic Vibe is the best starting point for most beginner guitarists. Even if you bail out after a year, you should be able to easily sell a CV. But if you stick with it, you can take a Classic Vibe all the way to the stage with no problem.