which is faster (a repeat structure question)

[Shao Sean]

repeat with i = 127 to 255
   replace numToChar(i) with ("=" & toUpper(baseConvert(i,10,16))) in
inputData
end repeat
return inputData


repeat for each char inputDataChar in inputData
  if (charToNum(inputDataChar) >= 127) then
    put "=" & toUpper(baseConvert(charToNum(inputDataChar),10,16)) after
outputData
  else
    put inputDataChar after outputData
  end if
end repeat
return outputData


is "repeat for each" really that much quicker?  i realize that the amount of
data being converted is a major factor, but the first one only needs to loop
128 times whereas the second one has to loop for each char, which could be
well more than 128 chars..

TIA - Sean