Geert,
As a guess I would say the WITH...ENDWITH causes VFP to evaluate the righthand side of the expression for each record in the LOCATE scope. While in the inline LOCATE expression the righthand side is evaluated once and then compared to each record in the LOCATE scope. (At least it sounds good :)
Jos
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends - Martin Luther King, Jr.