The main differences I see are in the areas of contrast/resolution on
the planets and the moon. Globular clusters also seem to be more
resolved and look "tighter" to me, if that makes any sense.
Jupiter is the one that blew me away, though - the differences are very
evident to me. Whereas before Tony re-figured my mirror, the most I
could see on Jupiter was four bands and what I thought at the time was a
moon passing in front of the disk of the planet. I could also see moons
around the planet. Since the first night I took my mirror out after I
got it back from Tony, I have been out looking at Jupiter every chance
I get. So far, I have seen many, many bands on the planet, the Great red
spot, shadows of the moons passing in front of the planet (the shadow is
a sharp black dot now, unmistakable), and much more. The seeing here is
avg at best, and I am observing from my asphalt drive in a subdivision.
The most magnification I can use on Jupiter before I start to lose
detail is 175x. Even at that power, the edge of the planet is shimmering
or moving quite a bit. I always check the atmosphere by moving my scope
to a bright star and racking it out of focus. It always looks like I am
under a moving river. I have never had a night of observing where I did
not see that, although the intensity of it does vary and I would guess
those are the nights when I get the fleeting moments of stable seeing -
ah, the joys of living in the Midwest!! anyway, one night, when the
seeing did seem to settle down a little and I got those fleeting moments
of stability, I could swear I was seeing detail inside the bands and
inside the great red spot !! I don't know for sure as it was only for a
moment, and then gone - is that kind of detail even possible in a good 8
inch, or was I just imagining it???? I don't know the answer to that
one...........how I wish I could get the scope out under some really
dark skies and really good seeing conditions!

the other big difference for me was the moon - I love looking at the
moon and seeing all the details in the craters. Now when I look at the
moon, I can see subtle details of shadowing on the crater walls, ridges
inside some of the crater walls, and greater detail on the lunar
mountain ranges. The smaller craters are also much, much sharper.

In regard to the eyepieces I use for observing Jupiter and the moon,
they are 12.5 and 18mm UO orthos, 7 and 9mm TMB Planetary eps, and
occasionally an oldie but goodie 9mm Nagler T1.

I am certainly no expert, nor do I claim to be, and I understand very
little about why or how telescopes and optics do what they do. But I
love looking at the heavens, and my new mirror has easily doubled my
enjoyment and re-created in me the excitement I felt the first time I
saw Saturn in a backyard telescope.

Hast off to you, Tony - I could not be happier with my mirror.....and I
can't wait to get my 10 inch!