Ive just installed both of them, and watched the intro for Fallout 1 (saw the F3 trailer the day it was released, and it took my interest straight away).
Fallout 1 wasn't quite as humor-laden as Fallout 2, but Fallout 1 was certainly beyond great at the time of its release. Fallout 2 simply outperformed Fallout 1, which was already a great game.
Honestly, I have yet to encounter a gamer who didn't like the games if they had tried them.