Not Much to Choose Between Them
The expression “not much to choose between them” is used to compare two or more things when there is little difference in the quality of the items being compared. The items are nearly equal.
You can use “not much” or “not a lot” and substitute “tell” for “choose” when using this expression.
There is not much/a lot to choose/tell between them.
It is a little unusual, but not wrong, to drop the “not” and reverse the meaning. Most people would understand you if you said “there is a lot to choose between them” when you mean say that the things that you are comparing are very different.
The Expression In Use
As a teacher, there is not a lot to choose between the games—they are all quality educational tools. -review of ICT Games
This is from my review of ICT games and means that the games are all of equal quality. Note that I am comparing many games here, not just two. The second part of the sentence shows that the games are all high-quality educational tools.
The sentence is saying that all of the games are of equal quality from an educational standpoint.
“There is not a lot to choose between many of the cameras you can buy.” - camera review
The author of this product review is saying that there are so many cameras to choose from that there is nothing to distinguish one camera from its many competitors.
“Not much to choose between surgery and exercise for back pain” -medical research report
The publishers of this press release are describing the findings of their research have found that the right exercise program alleviates back pain just as often as back surgery does.
But as much as we’ve praised FEAR, it’s still a title you can pick up for a tenner on the PC. If you’ve got one, go for the cheaper option as there’s not much to tell between them. -video game review
This passage comes at the end of a review for the video game FEAR for Xbox 360. The author is saying that FEAR for the Xbox 360 is virtually the same as FEAR for the PC (personal computer) so, if you have a PC, then get FEAR for the PC because it is cheaper. And, just to be clear, a “tenner” is a ten dollar (or pound) bill.
Wrap Up
I hope these examples help you understand how to use the expression. Feel free to post other examples or ask any questions you might have about this expression.