8. Belkin - Four-Port Firewire/ 1394 Hub - F5U524

Retail Price - $89.95 US

Website - Belkin

The Belkin Four-Port Firewire Hub.

One question that I keep getting is, "Why do Firewire/ 1394 hubs cost so much?" While I don't really know the answer, my best guess is that most companies don't sell enough of them to be able to price them reasonably. With Firewire/ 1394 becoming more popular with its addition into many chipsets, users can be left with too few ports to plug in all of their devices. Of course, most people that will have use for a Firewire/ 1394 hub are those doing a lot of video editing or those who have many external Firewire/ 1394 hard drives. while this can be a more specialized purchase for someone who needs such a device, the need might be growing. The Belkin 5FU524 four-port Firewire/ 1394 hub can be purchased for as little as $65 US, after a few price searches on the Internet. Although this is a product that doesn't get a lot of attention, it would be a welcome addition for those who need such a device.