The Cables Unlimited FireWire 800 cable is a durable, well-constructed FireWire cable that can reach and maintain fast speeds consistently. It is ideal for quickly transferring data or using video-editing software. However, the help and support options are limited, and it lands in ninth place on our list.

Cables Unlimited FireWire 800 cables feature a 9-pin-to-9-pin connector and have a transfer speed of 800Mbps (Megabits per second), which is ideal if you’re transferring or backing up files on your computer to an external hard drive with a FireWire 800 port.

FireWire 800 is one of the fastest input/output (I/O) port and cable technologies and is also known as IEEE-1394b. If you’re editing video with either a consumer or professional non-linear editing (NLE) application, storing your video files on a FireWire 800 external hard drive is the best way for your software to access the clips as you work.

Cables Unlimited has built its FireWire cables to be tough and able to withstand the usual daily wear and tear. The company has also made its FireWire cables flexible enough to wrap up for travel or organization. The cables are also shielded against radio frequency (RF) and electromagnetic (EM) interference, which can slow down or stop signal transfer along a FireWire 800 cable.

As with similar FireWire cables, Cables Unlimited’s are silver or black, which is a common color for most types of cables, including USB, Ethernet, HDMI and others. If you use many cables with your computer, it might be wise to consider organizing them with adhesive labels that indicate what each cable is.

Cables Unlimited offers a nice variety of FireWire cables, from FireWire 800 to FireWire 400 (6-pin and 4-pin), in various lengths. Cables Unlimited also sells a cardbus FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 card to put into a laptop, along with an ExpressCard version.

If you have a desktop computer, Cables Unlimited also carries some FireWire cards that you can install in your computer tower. The company also sells a variety of adapters, such as a FireWire 800 to 400 (6-pin) and a FireWire 400 6-pin to 4-pin. Its FireWire 400 cables can hit a constant data-transfer speed of 400Mbps.

The help and support options Cables Unlimited provides are rather limited, but they include an extensive FAQs page with info on ordering, tracking your order, returns and technical support. However, the tech support FAQs only link to a support email form, while the other FAQs relate to allowing your computer to accept browser cookies. That’s a head scratcher.

If you need further help or technical support, have a question or want to place an order without using the Cables Unlimited website, you can contact the company directly by email or phone. It’s open most of the day, Monday through Friday (Pacific Time).