My guess is that you may not have seen, held, or fished with either the 250 or the 253. If you are going to base your opinion simply on what is published, you may be disappointed once you do have a chance to see them in person. Can I suggest that the 253 is nothing comparable to the Calcutta 400. Even though the printed capacity for the 253 is nearly that of the 400, it would not stack up in actual capacity. Even if the spool diameter is slightly larger, the width is hardly half of the 400. That alone would tell you that they are not equivalent. If you plan on fishing the heavy line and you require a reasonable amount of capacity, the calcutta wins over the 253. However even at that, I am not saying that the Daiwa is inferior to the Shimano. I think you have a hard decision between the two products but compare the Daiwa 300 and the Calcutta 400 instead of the 253. I wish you luck.

Hookup90247

P.S. The Daiwa cannot hold the line that they are stating. It is a physical impossibility unless you count spectra.