The Tripp Lite FireWire 800 cable is very well made. It is a durable FireWire cable option that gives users the kind of speed they expect from FireWire 800 devices and computer connections. Tripp Lite builds upon 85 years of experience when the company manufactures its cables and other devices, and it shows. The price for this FireWire 800 cable is higher than similar models’ prices, but the product’s quality earns it our TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award.
The Tripp Lite FireWire 800 cable features a gold-plated 9-pin-to-9-pin (male) connector on each end. Gold is a good conductor that won’t corrode, so the Tripp Lite FireWire 800 cable will last longer than cables without gold connectors will, although silver is actually a better conductor than gold.
This FireWire 800 cable can achieve and maintain a constant speed of 800Mbps (Megabits per second). FireWire is one of the fastest input/output (I/O) connections on the market. Also known as IEEE-1394b, Apple Computers originally created FireWire, which has subsequently grown to become a popular I/O port option for Macs, Windows PCs (Sony calls it iLink) and other FireWire devices.
FireWire 800 is backwards compatible with FireWire 400 (IEEE-1394a), so it can easily work with FireWire 400 (6-pin and 4-pin) ports and cables. As long as you have an adapter, you can connect to a FireWire 400 device such as a disc burner, external hard drive, video camera and more.
You can use this FireWire 800 cable with an external hard drive to quickly transfer files and data much faster than USB 2.0 (which has a speed of 480Mbps, but it’s not constant) and FireWire 400 (which has a constant speed of 400Mbps), so FireWire 800 is ideal for backing up the files on your computer. Moreover, external FireWire hard drives have dropped in price significantly, while storage space has increased exponentially.
You can also use the Tripp Lite FireWire 800 cable with a compatible external hard drive for video editing. It’s a great idea to store your captured video (digital, high definition and so forth) on an external hard drive and use your consumer or professional video-editing software on your computer. If you use a non-linear editing (NLE) application, it will be able to read and access the footage quickly from the FireWire 800 hard drive and transfer information back and forth without causing disruptions in playback or editing.
Storing video on your startup drive, where your operating system resides (either Windows or Mac OS X), and then using NLE software can cause your startup drive to have long-term problems, including the possibility that the physical drive will fail. It usually starts with files disappearing, and then the drive itself won’t power up and will need to be repaired or replaced.
Tripp Lite builds all its cables to be tough and durable, yet flexible enough to wrap up for travel or to keep them organized. Tripp Lite FireWire cables are triple-shielded for extra protection from daily use, normal wear and tear and potential sources of interference. These include electromagnetic (EM) and radio frequency (RF) interference, which can potentially stop or slow the signal through a FireWire cable if it is strong enough.
All of Tripp Lite’s FireWire cables are black, as are most other cables you’ll likely use on a daily basis. You can easily mix up your FireWire cables with your USB, Ethernet, HDMI and other cables. Different colors would be of great help to organize these cables, but most are silver or black. We suggest using adhesive labels to mark which cables are which.
Tripp Lite offers a nice variety of FireWire cables, including FireWire 800 and FireWire 400 (6-pin and 4-pin). Each cable comes in lengths such as 3, 6, 10 and 15 feet. The company also offers a variety of connections, such as FireWire 800 to FireWire 400 (6-pin) so you can connect to devices with 6-pin ports without an adapter.
FireWire 400 (4-pin) is mostly used to capture video from a digital-video or high-definition video camera that is usually tape based. The smaller 4-pin connector fits into the FireWire 400 I/O port on the camera. Using a FireWire 800 to 400 (4-pin) cable makes it easy to digitize video clips on tape. The company also sells FireWire 400 6-pin-to-4-pin cables in addition to FireWire 400 (6-pin to 6-pin and 4-pin to 4-pin).
A small side note: many new professional and consumer video cameras use memory cards instead of tape, so you need to use a USB cable to transfer footage to a computer.
FireWire 400 (6-pin) was one of the first commercial instances of FireWire technology, and Apple included it on its high-end PowerMac computers for video editing professionals in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The company later added the port to its other computers, and manufacturers of Windows PCs did the same.
Tripp Lite offers a variety of help and support options, though they can be considered a little limited for FireWire cables. The company offers software and drivers for its devices, along with owner’s manuals, an online knowledge center, an excellent lifetime product warranty and an easy way to return defective cables.
You can also type in the model number of your FireWire cables (or other products) on Tripp Lite’s support page, which will pull up specific help and support options for that product. The website also includes top support issues and educational how-to videos, which don’t focus on FireWire cables and devices, but cover other common cables and connectors.
If you have questions or are in need of help or technical support, you can reach Tripp Lite directly by submitting a tech-support form on its website, or by email or telephone. The company has normal weekday hours (Monday through Friday, Central Time), but representatives are available for most of the day. You should visit the support site for updated hours and contract information.
Despite their higher price, Tripp Lite FireWire 800 cables are a great option for your FireWire cable needs. Their 9-pin connectors are made with gold, making them resistant to corrosion, while the cable itself is triple-shielded to protect it from normal wear-and-tear and any potential interference. The company’s help and support options, along with its great product warranty, make this FireWire cable worth considering.
