We are issued Motorola APX 800 mhz radios for work. Our radio guy yelled at me when he found a stubby antenna on my portable.
In our case, we need to maximize TX/RX range. The stubby cuts performance quite a bit compared to the longer antenna that goes with the portables we use.
I imagine the case is much the same for RX on a scanner and how well (or not) a stubby would perform.
If looking to improve range, I would probably suggest Remtronix or some other antenna optimized for the frequency ranges you need to listen to.
Remtronix 920S does a good job for me when listening mostly to 400/700/800.
The Comet BNC-W100RX (with a SMA to BNC adapter to fit the SDS100) telescoping antenna I bought does do a better job with air band on VHF.
I also bought a Max-Tenna, which is not perfect for indoor scanning at home, but does a decent job across most frequency bands.
I also have a Larsen Tri-band mobile antenna with a mag mount. I have not used much in my truck and don't have a ground plane rigged up yet to try in my house. I think once I give it some metal surface under it, it might do OK in the house. If it does, I may toss it in the attic.
Back to stubbies... Not sure trade-offs for compact size will help you improve reception.