It's a current model, the M-625XP. I ran it our whole trip up the coast in moderately bouncy weather. Between movement of the image due to boat movement, and modest resolution (640x480), I'd be shocked if you could pick out anything in the water. QUOTE]
Interesting, that is the high end model and you have, and you have a big boat. Perhaps the image stabilization will improve over time. Thanks for the feedback.
Getting back to the handheld, as noted I have had the Flir Ocean Scout 320 which has 640x480 res. It has been fairly useful, but I would say it is limited to stopping and looking for things at night such as a bouys at a marina entrance. I am sure there are others on here with more experience with these.
I will be interested to see how this flip phone compares, if someone has both, because that is a heck of a lot cheaper than the ocean scout models.
The reason I bought this, was based on an encounter I had at night leaving Catalina Island at 4 am a couple years ago. Leaving the entrance, there was a guy in a very small boat, no lights, and combined with the lights from the marina behind me, caused me some havoc. I was stopped dead my wife and both staring trying to figure out what was going on so we could leave. If I had this Flir back then, a quick check would have pinned down his location because he was ghosting in and out on the radar. It is also a great tool for night time search and rescue in that unlikely event.
And to be honest, its been a fun toy to play with in between its "useful" moments.