Comment by de_dave

I use the standard hardware encryption of my SSD (a Samsung 830 in my 2012-era Dell XPS 13), which requires I enter the passphrase when I turn my machine on.

Advantages:

  - OS neutral
  - Seemingly as fast as running 'unencrypted' 
    (I assume performance is identical, the only
    difference being the passphrase is stored in
    my head rather than the BIOS)

Disadvantages:

  - Limited to an 8-char (!) ASCII passphrase
  - I've no idea how secure it really is
  - Can't audit the algorithm (not that I have
    the technical ability to)