Well, these are definitely better than the 505's I bought a few months ago, but they're still not the Levi's jeans of a few years ago.  Compared to the 505's, these actually sit at the waist and are sized correctly.  The 501's also use a heavier denim than the 505's, 550's, etc.  The button fly was not my first choice, but this way I don't have to deal with the cheap zipper used in the current 505's.  Did I mention that Levi's are not the same quality product they were just a few short years ago?  The biggest difference between these 501's and the legacy 501's (and all other styles of Levi's jeans) is the missing belt loops.  There used to be 2 additional loops in the back, between the center loop and the 2 side loops.  Somehow they just don't feel right without those other 2 loops.