I like the 8 footers but that's because of how I route my cord from me cx1 ,mounted on the back corner of my toolbox, around the rear corner and then out to my machine so that I have my power unit handy but don't have my cord on top of my paper towels or knocking ink caps or anything on top of the toolbox. That's just me though. I think at some point the cord loses a little current depending on the material but I like and 8 footer but don't have much issue with shorter ones, just have to scoot my power unit around a little