Vista Bitlocker or Encrypted hard drive?

Call me paraoid, but if my laptop is stolen or lost, I don't want anyone
having a record of my e-mails, pictures or other personal data. I essentially have 3 choices in disk encryption.
1. Software like Truecrypt (uses resources and keys stored in RAM are vulnerable - Google Cold Boot Attack)
2. Bitlocker. I heard it can be buggy and keys can be recovered from RAM module.
3. An encrypted hard drive (no software to install, uses no resources,
keys are stored in the a chip in the drive which would be far more secure)

With the 3rd choice, I have read great reviews on Hitachi Travelstar drives.

Just curious if others agree that Encrypted hard drives are the best choice for data security.

 

Paranoid!

you asked for it.

I guess 3 is the most simple way. but be sure to have an unencrypted backup at some save place (that's true for any of the solutions). reason: there may be the moment that you don't get access to it anymore. how do you get to your data, then? (same when stolen).

 

#3 is technically the safest, but also the most expensive and severely limits your choices of hard drives.

I've used Bitlocker for eight months and have had no problems.

What are you carrying on your laptop that you're worried about a cold-boot attack??? I can't imaging a thief being that technically sophisticated unless you're carrying military/government/corporate secrets on there and they've specifically targeted you.

 

I don't have anything illegal or top secret. I do have business documents and intellectual property that have value.
Plus, I just don't want others to have access to all of my e-mails and pics.
Its not just thieves, it can be anyone vindictive.
I am taking the cold boot attack seriously.

“Some people have dismissed the cold boot attack as a minor issue, but that not true. To pull off the attack, all you have to do is literally stick a USB into the laptop you get your hands on,” McGregor says. “It doesn’t require any technical skill -- you can easily get automated tools to perform the attack for you.”
http://www.byteandswitch.com/storage/other/freezing-the-cold-boot-attack.php

 

McGregor owns a company selling solutions to protect against this sort of attack; of course he's going to say something like that. Perhaps I'm being cynical; I try to keep an open mind -- does anyone have references to comments on this topic by industry experts who don't have a financial stake in the topic?

Anyway, do whatever makes you happy; but if you're taking that as a serious threat to your data, then there's no question and I'm not sure why you posted. You already know that #1 & #2 are technically more vulnerable to a cold boot attack than #3 -- therefore your only option (AFAIK) is #3.