As you can see...opinions, everyone has them and they don't all agree. That does not make the opinion wrong, just how the person delivering it feels.
I am not a fan of the Yaesu 857, I can't even put my finger on exactly why, but having used them several times (never owned one) I just do not place it high on my list. Odd, because the majority of my gear is Yaesu. The same with the Icom 718. I can't say it is bad, and the price point is very nice, but again not high on my list.
Basically the recommendations have been all radios under $1000. Keeping with that price point I think the Kenwood TS480SAT is very hard to beat, it comes in at just a bit over $800, typically below $850.
Of the under $1000 transceivers it has generally the best receiver of the bunch. This is both my opinion and supported by third party testing (such as Sherwood Enginering and various ARRL lab reports).
It has a remote head, and is sold with the remoting kit. And unlike some of the others, when you remote the head you do not have to have a separate speaker, as the speaker is in the factory head.
It has an antenna tuner. All built in factory tuners tend to be a bit limited in what kind of antenna (how bad a mismatch) they will load but in general the TS480SAT tuner seems a bit more capable than some of the others in the price range. And several other radios that are just a bit less expensive than this have no tuner at all.
The radio has a lot of buttons on the face of it, this is both good and bad. The buttons tend to be a little small, and can be a problem to operate in gloves. The small print can also be a bit hard for older eyes to make out in less than perfect light. However, the reason for the multiple button setup is simple, many of the most common functions can be accessed pushing a dedicated button, no drilling through menus required. Once you learn the location of the buttons I prefer this approach. And yes, the function (primary and secondary functions) of each button are clearly marked, so if you leave the manual at home you can still figure out how to change modes or activate the antenna tuner.
On the negative side, it has a somewhat large remote head.
I think as either a base or mobile solution the combination of a Kenwood TS480SAT with something like a Yaesu FT-7900R makes a nice combination. The radios themselves come in at about $1000 combined cost (not counting antennas, feedline, or power supplies), give you HF plus 2 m / 70 cm, and are solid radios. I have, and have had for several years, exactly this setup in one of my 4x4's (another has the Kenwood TS-2000X with RC-2000 remote head for all band/all mode operation).
T!