This may be a bit off topic. but: You have to remember that the Empire was stretched EXTREMELY thin trying to hold onto the entire republic. That's millions and millions of star systems. The Old Republic was, of course, fragile and weak, and the Empire had to build up enough forces QUICKLY to take control. They also had the indebted and weakened economy and industry of their predeccessors to work with. The Rebels, on the other hand, were liable to strike anywhere at anytime, so the Empire had to be everywhere at once just in case, whereas the rebels could simply concentrate what little they had in a few places. The Empire didn't neglect to put shields on their standard fighters because they don't care about their pilots: the most cold hearted man knows that that is a very stupid attitude to take. Training a pilot to be proficient with a fundamentally inferior fighter takes a lot of effort, and they could not possibly have intended to waste it for no good reason. We do know that Tie Fighters have superb maneuverability, which makes up for their lack of protection considerably. And a hyperdrive is just a waste of space on anything so small, as they need to be supplied and fueled anyway. Remember, don't knock speed over protection. In the opening days of WWII, Japanese zeros made piecemeal out of American fighters, because they sacrificed armor plating and self sealing fuel tanks for performance. The Empire simply overextended itself, imo.
