I was getting mixed up with 40+44 pin ide connections-I understand now that sata does not have a variety of different connection types, just one set standard for data and power. I do have more than one drive I might be able to use with one of these docking stations, alongside the hdd I have taken out of its external casing, to use on older machines.

thanks for the links-some of these stations do seem a little expensive for what I would use the older drives I have here for,essentially as second or third backups. I was looking for a usb2 to 3.5" sata hdd station-the cheapest I can find is around £15 on amazon (newlinks brand), but.. I would rather pay extra if the cheapest of brands cause the drive to become very hot after an hour or less of use. I have noticed startech appear on just about every shopping site-does anyone know if they sell other companies goods under their own name, and/or if they are any good in quality? Interestingly dabs sells alot of startech goods for around £10+ less than the startech official website, so I can get a station for my old drives for around £20. thanks :)