Is it better to use NOT or <> when comparing values?

Question

Is it better to use NOT or to use <> when comparing values in VBScript?
is this:

 If NOT value1 = value2 Then 

or this:

 If value1 <> value2 Then 

better?

EDIT: Here is my counterargument.
When looking to logically negate a Boolean value you would use the NOT operator, so this is correct:

  If NOT boolValue1 Then 

and when a comparison is made in the case of the first example a Boolean value is returned. either the values are equal True, or they are not False. So using the NOT operator would be appropriate, because you are logically negating a Boolean value.

For readability placing the comparison in parenthesis would probably help.

Answer 1

The latter (<>), because the meaning of the former isn't clear unless you have a perfect understanding of the order of operations as it applies to the Not and = operators: a subtlety which is easy to miss.