Brando loves to release docking stations for your SATA HDDs every couple of months. This latest unit adds H.264 decoding to the already present DivX, Xvid and MPEG-4 and outputs to full 1080p. It features HDMI and a bunch of supported media formats. It gives you a lot of options.

This new device accepts 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch hard drives as well as USB flash memory, SD, MMC, and MS cards. There’s much to like. Until you get to the price, which is $199. There are nicer looking alternatives available for about half that.

Some of Brando’s gadgets are pointless, while others are useful. This would be one of the useful gadgets. A SATA HDD Dock with One Touch Backup. This device allows you to plug in any 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA hard drives to your PC via USB or eSATA.

With the one touch backup function you can easily copy files and data from your PC to an external HDD. The device supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista as well as Mac OS. It will only cost you $49.

Brando is known for its whacky USB gadgets, so it isn’t much of a surprise to see them offering this combination SATA HDD dock / stereo speaker / USB hub. While it won’t tell you the temperature at your desk, it’s sure to come in handy.

Some features include compatibility with 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA hard disks, two USB 2.0 ports, USB audio, three watt stereo speakers, and volume control. If you are a fan of Brando’s gadget combo creativity, it will only cost you $59.

This one is yet another useful gadget from the folks over at Thinkgeek. The Dual External USB SATA Drive Dock allows you to dock two SATA hard drives, either 2.5″ or 3.5″ HDD’s with your PC or MAC, via USB or eSATA.

Some specs: Connects to one or two 2.5″ or 3.5″ internal SATA hard drives, USB or eSATA connectivity, Plug and Play, Transfer rates up to 480Mbps with USB 2.0, Transfer rates up to 3Gb/s with eSATA. The device is available for $79.99.

The SATA HDD Dock was certainly a hit when first launched and Brando has been capitalizing on it ever since. Last we had heard they added some USB ports and card readers to the dock to give it some additional usefulness and today the SATA HDD Dock has become the SATA HDD Multimedia Dock.

The old Stage Rack still has the ability to dock your drives in a raw sort of way, but can now connect to your TV through S-Video and composite jacks, allowing you to stream out video and pictures from your drive (or a multimedia card or USB drive) without the need of a computer in between. It even comes with it’s own remote control.

Brando has again upgraded their handy SATA HDD stage rack, this time adding a couple of USB ports and card readers on the front. The computer peripheral, now called the SATA HDD Multi-Function Dock, can connect to your computer through either USB 2.0 or eSATA port and will dock a 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA hard drive.

The hard drive dock still works with PCs and Macs and continues to provide convenient alternative to cracking open your computer case or using a simple but often messy cable solution. In this model Brando decided to do away with the Firewire they had previously and just stick to the USB and eSATA connections.

Because of all the attention gained by the HDD Stage Rack which gives users a convenient “dock” for their hard drives, Logitec has answered with a version of their own. The eSata HDD Cradle from Logitec seems to work very similarly to the Stage Rack supporting 2.5″ and 3.5″ SATA hard drives, but no IDE. This model also looks a little bit more stylish and additionally houses a 4-port USB hub through it’s existing USB connection, making it a little more useful.

GeekStuff4U has the Logitec hard drive cradle available for pre-order now priced at $72.31 and will start shipping at the end of December, but unfortunately without support for IDE it doesn’t look like it adds much more value for it’s significantly higher price.

Take a look at this. The picture pretty much says it all but I’ll explain some anyway. This is the SATA HDD Stage Rack which is compatible with PC and Mac and connects through USB 2.0 to your computer. By simply plugging in your hard drive like it was some old-school Atari game the drive shows up on your computer. It supports 3.5″ and 2.5″ drives and does require an external power connection to spin the drive in addition to the USB cable.

I have a drawer full of hard drives from different upgrades where occasionally I need to access. Opening your PC is a real pain and putting it in an enclosure isn’t a whole lot better. Up until now I, like a lot of people, have been using a SATA to USB adapter cable which works pretty slick but doesn’t hold a candle to how cool this hard drive dock looks.