LaCie eSATA/Thunderbolt hub vs NitroAV Firewire 800 hub
 

I have external hard drives that I like to use firewire with for better speeds than USB, & so far I have been using my firewire external hard drives with a single firewire cable connected to my mac, & plug & unplug the drives when needed.

My hard drives are in these enclosures: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...0.html/bi/4166

and http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...L.html/bi/4166

both enclosures have can use firewire 800 & esata.

I would like to be able to use either esata or firewire 800 on a hub that can support the speeds. Instead of plugging & unplugging from a single firewire cable. But I also dont want to be too impractical & spend too much on something that may not be needed. Also would like port multiplier, so I can have more than 1 external hard drive plugged in & on/running & transfer between drives.

I have been looking at these 2 hubs:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B00506K4NC

and from nitros website: http://www.nitroav.com/store/nitroav...-repeater.html

and this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...b.html/bi/4166

and from LaCies website; http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10574

If I go for one of these, which would be better? or better value for money & tech? or should I just stick to plugging & unplugging from the single firewire cable connected to my mac?

The AV has the firewire 800 ports, & the LaCie has esata with thunderbolt, of which seems to be the tech of the future so with this, it might be more future proof. I read that firewire is a last gen tech that may go extinct soon & be replaced by thunderbolt. The LaCie also has esata, of which my enclosures do have ports for, is this faster than firewire 800?

So if I get the firewire 800 hub, am I investing in an aging /about to expire tech? or should I go for the future & esata with the LaCie?

there is also this; http://www.belkin.com/thunderbolt/ for the future of new connectors, but the price of this is way too much for me now, & not practical, so that is why I was looking at the AvNitro & the LaCie hubs.

I am also looking for a way to reduce or tidy up the wires that I have amassed on my old desk that my mac is on.

eSATA is faster than Firewire800, yes.

Based on my reading, the eSATA hub requires the computer to have an eSATA slot in order to use it for eSATA. Do you have one?
I don't think the Thunderbolt connection allows for eSATA connections.

IEEE1394b (Firewire 800) is not obsolete.

Thunderbolt and USB3 both suffer from drawbacks -- they're not as rosy as you may be thinking. USB3 is just an upgrade to USB2, with the same flaws, while Thunderbolt is another Apple-only adoption (and therefore needlessly expensive) at the moment.

so would I be better off getting the nitro firewire 800 hub? I would rather have something that is more reliable even if it is a little slower.

The LaCie esata hub would connect to my mac via a thunderbolt port with a thunderbolt cable, & from there it has the esata ports to connect an esata hard drive.