I bought both Fallout 1 and 2, and plan to play both. However I can only play one right now and I would like to play the best one first (in case I don't get to the other one for a while).
Understanding I'll be experiencing the story-lines out of sequence, and also understanding this is totally based on peoples personal opinions ...
Which is the better game experience, Fallout 1 or 2?
Thanks for your input.
(I tried a search in case this was asked before and it came up with nothing)

I love them both. But if you want to play the bigger of the two I would have to say Fallout 2. It's bigger, has way more to do. Plus a lot of the problems of the first is worked out in the second. There are better NPC's to pick up and the advanced power armor rocks. Plus if you get the mods that add the stuff that was left out of the original FO2 you get an even richer experience.
That being said I would recommend against starting with FO2 because FO1 was the ground breaker. And in my opinion will always be the best of the two only because it was the first. And besides you'll know what happens in FO1 if you play them backwards. I hate spoilers!
But you decide for yourself. I find FO2 to have a little more replay value than FO1. But that says nothing on my part about my love for one or the other...

Thanks for your reply.
I'm new to the whole Fallout series. I fell in love with what will be Fallout 3, and I love old PC games esp sandbox-type, so now I want to play the first two.
You mentioned adding the mods to re-add what was left out in Fallout 2. Which mods do you recommend? I read somewhere about a "child" mod from the no mutants allowed site.
And is there a specific order I need to install these mods, like some other games with mods?

After first starting to play Fallout 2 and then playing through Fallout 1 I'd definitely say you should start with the first one. The beginning of the second one can be very, very frustrating, especially and most likely when you are inexperienced with the games. The first one, however, is even an easy game overall, as long as you don't accidently make big mistakes.
At least that's what it was like for me: I really wanted to play Fallout and started with the second one. But it was so frustrating that I just couldn't go on playing it. So only when GOG launched I bought Fallout 1 and played through it without big problems. I just recommend that you consult a walkthrough every now and then, because there are things in F1 I just couldn't have figured out at all. And now that I really understand what Fallout is like and basically got a very good introduction, I feel I'm ready to play Fallout 2 without big troubles.
I guess Fallout 2 is the better game, but it's not a good introduction.

Definitely Fallout 1.
I still consider it better than Fallout 2, because it's a pretty incomplete game (even with the pack), and has too many ways to abuse it, being too difficult without profiting from these flaws.
But it's bigger, so, if size matters...

Why would you want to play Fallout 2 before Fallout 1? It will just spoil Fallout 1's main quests. Also, some places won't have as much meaning, i.e. Vault 13, NCR, and Mariposa. I'd advise playing Fallout 1 first.

I'll try to summarise what pretty much everyone here has said here. FO2 may be "the better game experience" but it is that mainly because of FO1. Without playing the first fallout... first... you'll be missing much and I would argue that that "much" includes the best bits of FO2.

Damn I'm happy to see the good sense exhibited here. OP, heed all those words. You're being steered right by some right-on people.

Just remember, War Never Changes.