ratedk :
Does it look like this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Latitude-E5520-IDE-Hard-Drive-Connector-9W3VX-/130846054648?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e770858f8
thanks for the reply--but no--that looks like some sort of ide connector
its a silly little connector that goes between the hard drive caddy and the motherboard
sort of a double ended female sata connector
why they used it instead of just connecting the sata drive straight to the motherboard like most laptops i really
dont know
but its proving a right pain to find one especially without a part number
have found the whole caddy part number--the same one fits e5420
and can see the connector here with the caddy but its out of stock and they dont give a part number just for the
connector
here it is here and its just the black bit i need
http://www.upperedgetech.com/dell-latitude-e5420-laptop-hdd-hard-drive-caddy-d80v4-4-screws-connector/