What those folks are referring to is something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.ht...reative=390957
Those cables run anywhere from $5 to $25, depending on what store it comes from, the brand name of the cable kit (or lack thereof, in the case of generic Chinese "as good as" products), and the quality/length of the cables. Some are integrated single-cable solutions, while others are flimsy plug-and-play "kits" that give you a main wire, and lots of small 6-inch cables to go to SATA or IDE drives.
These are always "to USB" -- never to eSATA or Firewire. At least, I've never anything but USB2 cable converters, and I've looked quite a few times in the past 4 years.
These are dangerous to the drive.
Excluding the arms and other moving parts sealed inside the drive enclosure, the
most delicate part of a drive is the PCB board on bottom --
the green board. It is easy susceptible to static electricity damage, and can easily "fry" the board. Simply touching the board can kill it. If this board is lost or damaged, the drive is essentially useless. No amount of "hard drive recovery software" will ever help you. This sort of damage requires expensive ($1,000 to $2,000 range, on average) hardware recovery in a clean-room, by services like OnTrack.
I've had drives fry due to PCB boards going bad, and I've had to pay Ontrack $1,000+ to recover the drive contents. Learn from my mistakes, don't stubbornly re-create/repeat them on your own.
Only use USB<>IDE/SATA for emergency data access, such as transferring files off a now-dead computer, where the new computer cannot accept the new drive. (For example, transferring IDE drive content to a new SATA drive, or transferring desktop drive contents to a laptop/notebook drive.)
A dock is safe.
A USB-to-IDE/SATA cable is not.
Some cheap docks allow the drive to really stick out far, a can be wobbly. I've seen cheap plastic docks easily knocked off a desk -- and in the middle of writing to the disk. Those disks did not survive the fall, as the arm was not secured (due to writing at the time), and it crashed against the platter when it hit the floor. These things have a crap design.
For example, don't buy this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B001HNO3T8
That's fine for temporary use, but not constant or long-term disk access.
Go for docks that more like "quick access enclosures".
For example, the IcyDock:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B000KMD1JA
It's $5 cheaper at
Newegg.com right now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198003
And there's a $10 rebate for purchases from April 1 to April 30. (see attached)
So $45 after shipping (and assuming there's no tax to your location).
Given how many flimsy docks are in the $30-40 range, this is just a few dollars more for a much better solution.
This is USB/eSATA output -- not Firewire.
For Firewire 400, get this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B000KMD1QS
It's ~$61, after shipping.
(
Newegg is more expensive, I just compared prices at several places.)
The Firewire 800 IcyDock is about $200. Waste of money.
While I do (and have, and will continue to) suggest the SATA/IDE USB converter cables, for various uses, it would not be a wise choice for constant backups -- or planned repeated use. The IcyDock would let you STORE the disks bare, in a proper box in a drawer somewhere, but when IN USE it would be safely tucked inside the IcyDock.
That's my advice here.
