The BCT-8 is a nifty little device. The Bear Tracker Highway Patrol Alert alarms on receipt of a strong signal on one of the freqs known to be used by highway patrol. It only lights off, of course, if the trooper is transmitting nearby. The catch that makes it worthwhile is that many troopers have a thing called a "mobile extender." The idea is that the car has a big radio that can reach all the way home, while the cop just carries a handheld. The mobile extender automatically communicates with the handheld (sort of), so anytime the dispatcher keys their mike, the mobile extender fires, and you'll get the alarm. The bummer is that many troopers (most in WA) don't have mobile extenders, so you don't hear them until they say "Making the stop, black Porsche 911, license ..." It's a great idea, but I was surprised as often as not when trusting only the scanner. I do get better results on long drives, as there's less small-town interference traffic to confuse you.
As to the BC100XLT, that's an older hand-held, right? Hmmm ... quick google yields '87 vintage, with pretty limited frequency set, but it sounds like you made it work pretty well. Either I haven't met any airborne types or I'm just not listening to them.
The hand held scanners have the big advantage of size -- they're way easier to fit into our little-bitty cockpits. The BCT-8 runs about $200, and is fairly big, but also pretty capable :
I settled on the -8 despite it's size because I knew I'd be able to mount it in my cockpit, it's a good bit cheaper than a handheld of similar capabilities, and I wasn't sure which capabilities would be useful, so I just got all of them.
Does the latest V-1 upgrade support POP? I'd call that a valuable counterdetection capability; my little Escort X50 does just fine against it, thank you, though I cannot compare to V-1 or Bel performance.
Laser Jammers? I've read good reviews about Escort's laser "shifter." There was a story floating around about a guy who had tested it on his truck (truck!!) with some cop friends of his late one night in a big parking lot. If the cop knew right where to aim (upper corner of the windshield, farthest point from either transceiver), he could get a return at point blank range, iirc. Seems that Bel also produces a high quality laser jammer device.
The other thing you might consider, if you're serious about speeding in laser-infested areas, is a product called Laser Veil. It's basically a paint that absorbs 904nm wavelength light, but transmits everything else. It's pricey (like $150 for a small bottle), but you only need to paint your light-surfaces and plates. Theoretically, if it works like I'd expect it to, it should reduce the return signal by a substantial factor which ought to reduce the usable range of the laser device dramatically. If you're also jamming (or shifting) and scanning, you'll probably be ok.
Dan