Random Fiver Option?

[Gatac]

Well, on 1d8+1, you have a 12.5% chance for everything from 2 to 9. On 2d4+1, it's...

6.25% 3
12.5% 4
18.75% 5
25% 6
18.75% 7
12.5% 8
6.25% 9

...so it's more bell-curved. That means your probability is skewed towards middle-of-the-road results, which means you get truly good and truly bad rolls less...but 2d4+1 also gives you a higher minimum result.

Depending on whether getting the maximum roll allows you to activate a special ability (like, the die "explodes", to use Spycraft language), it may be a better deal, but I'm reasonably sure that the 2d4+1 option is better on average.

Gatac