I looked at Vantec's website and it looks like they even have an IDE/SATA converter to USB, not just IDE. Looks like it could be a helpful tool. I could actually use one right now since I'm out of SATA ports and I need to get some data off one of my drives.
Slightly off track, I also see vantec has their newer external drive enclosure coming out that supports USB 2.0 and eSATA
NexStar 3.0. One possible down side is that this enclosure is a 2.5"...I had been looking for a decent solution like that for a while and it seems eSATA is becoming easier now that most newer motherboards have more SATA ports on them.