In date, appropriate strain, locally available matters more than brand if comparing wyeast with whitelabs. HBS I use most sell wyeast only so that's mainly what I use but used whitelabs too and never been disappointed.
i use wyeast and white labs interchangeably depending on what strain im after at the time. what happened to the mob doing yeast out of perth? their stuff was also pretty good.
I too am happy with both vessels. A smack pack can help indicate the viability of the yeast and a vial can be recycled as a beer tap handle! It's the strain and health of the yeast that really matters and with the right care you'll have no trouble with either.