ILTB, this is not about upgrade "points". It's about an upgrade that would make the bike roll better. noglider, the first thing I did when I got the bike was to swap the Kenda Kouriers that came on it (I hated those tires) with some Bontrager H2's. They roll sooo much better. I did automobile front end work for about 10 years and noticing how a vehicle rolls is something that is very obvious to me. Funny, I can tell a difference (car or bike) by the time the tires roll over a couple of times.
Problem with my idea is that I'm not willing to spend enough money to make it an easy decision, at least for me, due to lack of experience. I was hoping for some suggestions or combinations of products that I was not aware of. Again, lack of experience with bikes hurts me here. My thoughts are that replacing a cheap wheelset with another cheap wheelset will probably not yield the desired results. If a dollar figure would help, then $300.00 would be pushing the limit. Considering some of the comments on this, I might even have to rethink that.
If there has been a problem with these wheels it would be loose spokes back when the bike was my daily commuter. I put it on the workstand every 100-150 miles (sooner if I got caught in the rain) to wipe it down, lube the drivetrain and while I was at it, I would true the back wheel. In that mileage, generally, there would be a spoke starting to "pop". It only took a couple of minutes and I have not considered it a big deal.