Tried the majority of the "top" internet security suites and here are my thoughts

Over the last 2 months I tried all the top internet security programmes because I wanted to see if anything was better than my AVG/MalwareBytes combo (license had expired).

Here are my results:

1. Panda:
Big pile of crap. The worst one out of them all. It's a major resource hog and would slow down my browsing so much, that it would take 20-30 seconds to load pages (this is w/o scanning too!). Would consider cookies as viruses/infections to make a noob user believe that it was "working" and he/she should buy a license.

2. G-Data:
Extremely paranoid. It is the only programme that would block me from visiting websites such as NBR because it says it was trying to attack my computer. Would definitely avoid this one because it'll ruin your browsing experience due to it thinking every site is out to get you.

3. Avast / Avira:
Both didn't feel up to par with AVG/Kapersky/Bit-Defender. Several "cons" that made me favour other software such as performance/UI/alerts. Can't recall if it was Avast or Avira, but one of them failed to catch a trojan on a flashdrive that was handed to me by my friend. A different trial programme caught it.

4. F-Secure
Somewhat laggy. If you were to scan while browsing, you wouldn't be able to use your computer at all (unlike with AVG). I found this poorly optimized overall and would never use it.

5. Bit-Defender / Kapersky:
Had a positive experience with both. Would consider them as an alternative to AVG.

6. McAfee:
I didn't bother with this one since it gave me major computer issues when it was pre-installed my system by Dell when I received it. Slowed down my system amongst other things.

7. Norton:
Decent experience overall. Nothing bad to say about it.

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So overall, AVG/Kapersky/Bit-Defender were my favourites. I took into account:
- No noticeable slow downs/lag on my system
- Able to scan while I browse without issues
- UI was simple to use and the experience enjoyable
- Honest experience (no alerts to trick me into purchasing a license)
- No ridiculous blocks to legitimate website
- Security Alerts ...if they were reasonable or outright spams
- Asking if I want to allow programmes rather than blocking it all without my permission


Would rate all of them (AVG/Kapersky/Bit-Defender) as #1, followed by Norton #2. Everything else I would never use on my system - just too many "cons". I'd recommend those 'shopping around' to try several trials for a few days/week to see if it's right for you.

I returned to the AVG Internet Security 2012/MalwareBytes Premium combo today because some of the other choices would not let me use Malwarebytes at the same time and the experience with AVG has been smooth without faults - that's not to say you should do the same, because Kapersky/Bit-Defender have been a solid experience, too, it's just my preference to have that combo.

By the way guys - never buy the software directly from the manufacturers site because you'll get overcharged. You can buy the exact same software from purplus.com for example and get it for 1/3 the price for most programmes.

 

Was the Bitdefender you tried the 2013 version?

By the way, what makes that site so much cheaper? That's soo great, thanks for sharing! Bitdefender is super cheap on that site.

 

Yep.

Not sure what makes them so much cheaper - bulk purchase discount by the site perhaps? Yeah, 18.95$ for 3-PC's is a great deal.

If anyone cares about ratings, Bit-Defender and Kapersky are tied (give or take 1%) on most sites as #1 after going through gruesome tests. AVG stands at #4 (3-4% off #1).

Purplus Downloads
(for anyone else reading)

 

Kaspersky Internet Security / Bitdefender Internet Security are amongst the worst in my experience...

Here is my personal experience (not technically, but as a real world user):

1- I bought a 3 year license of Kaspersky Internet Security and installed the latest 2012 version. I used it for a month and while its firewall is top par and it is the best Antivirus out there, the performance hit was far beyond imagination! I mean, if I would double click on an EXE setup file, it would literally sit there thinking for about 30 seconds before it decides to open it. I also didn't like how slow my system performed even though I have a top specs system as you can see from my sig. So i Refunded my license.

2- I did more researching online and found Bitdefender to be one of the top performing AVs these days so I thought why not, let's buy a license. I bought a 1 year license with them and it made my internet crawl like a turtle! Browing webpages was horrible even on my 30 bmps down/ 3 mbps up connection, furthermore, it caused many crashes for me with Firefox 14.0.1 (I know it may not be Bitdefender's or Firefox's fault but just saying, I had to install Firefox 15 Beta 2 to get the random crashing fixed), it also caused my MPC-HC to crash randomly while playing videos.
Worst of all, if you go to their forums, you will find a Myriad of problematic posts with 0 replies! It seems Bitdefender is so busy focusing on marketing and advertisements and forgot about support for their customers! Horrible technical support and community forums. I ended it up uninstalling it even though I still have my license.

3- I had Microsoft Security Essentials installed on my small sister's computer and she got a few viruses, what is worse, is when you click clean, even though they weren't really viruses just some false positivees in her software folder, MSE wasn't able to delete them, it simply kept displaying the pop up that it found a virus on and on again! I quickly uninstalled that crap.

4- Avira was my favorite in the past but recently with all the ads that they spam you with and annoying pop-ups, in addition to including the ask.com toolbar in their setup, I have lost complete trust in this company although they kept me protected for years in the past. What a shame.

5- After having tested many security suites / antivirus programs, I am now happy using avast! free antivirus. It is very good, has good detection rates, and very light on the system. I once tried running a program that it didn't recognize and it quickly launched it in a sandboxed mode to prevent any harm to my system! it's awesome!

6- NOD32 antivirus (forget about Eset Smart Security) is one of the best paid antivirus programs out there if you want that tiny little bit more of comfort although nowadays it is not really needed anymore as free antivirus programs have gond a long way and improved a lot. But in all the years that I have owned NOD32 antivirus, I never EVER got a virus. Their firewall is a joke so just stick to the Windows Firewall along with NOD32 antivirus

Add to the above choices SUPERAntiSpyware Free to scan for the harmful/tracking cookies, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free to do a monthly scan just to be on the safe side and you're more than good to go!

 

Unless you can prove in legitimate tests or provide some proof of one security software being inferior or superior, this thread is useless and frankly, biased to AVG.

You never took into account some of the leading Security Software such as Microsoft Security Essentials in this review which the vast majority of posts here recommend.

AVG is known to have serious flaws and known to be bloated. Many have had trouble uninstalling from their computers in the past, not sure about the current present but AVG is certainly not "#1" as you claim

 

I agree with your assessment of the OP's post. I fix computers for a living and the majority of computers that are brought in to me due to malware infections have either AVG or McAfee installed. Either those two AVs are ineffective in blocking malware or the people who happen to use those two simply engage in riskier surfing or downloading. I find it hard to believe that AVG and McAfee users are all that different from other computer users so I have to believe the fault lies with the AVs. Based on my personal experience I would not recommend either AVG or McAfee for anyone.

 

Pretty lousy review. Besides anti-virus what did you use as a criteria for "internet security suite"? Should a firewall be included in a suite? How can you possibly group Avast / Avira and Bit-Defender / Kapersky together? Did you use MBAM with all others?

And you forgot one the best, free, and true internet security "suites" available

PS... Purplus has Malwarebytes Pro (not premium) listed for 29.95. Malwarebytes has it listed for 24.95 and Google can get you a $5 off coupon, so you can actually get it for 19.95. Newegg had it for 9.95 about a month ago. Also, your website says one year, it's a lifetime license.

 

If you read the entire post, I claimed that I had the most positive experience with Bit-Defender, Kapesky and AVG. I never claimed it was a review. I was sharing my experience with the security suites listed.

And I did not say AVG was #1, I said "Would rate all of them (AVG/Kapersky/Bit-Defender) as #1" - no need to take my post out of context. I even recommended "shopping around".

Again, this is a post about my experience.

Not a review.

Not a rigorous test face-off with graphs/charts.

Again, where did you see "review" in my post? I listed my experience with the paid/trial versions of internet security suites. I did not perform rigorous tests outlined with charts - if you want professional charts, you can easily find them through Google.

I did not enjoy my experience with Avast and Avira. MB was compatible with some, but not all. For those who were compatible, I tried it with and without. If this was a "review", of course it would be "lousy", hence why it wasn't labelled as a review.

If you have suggestions to other suites/free services, I'm open ears

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Again guys, this is not a review and I never claimed it to be so. It's just a guy who tried various suites for a few days-week that's posting his experience with each ...nothing more.

 

Guys, I've deleted a few posts. You already stated what you thought about the OP's original post so ... let's leave it at that and not incite more arguments. Thanks.

 

Why would you rate Norton below AVG, Kaspersky, and BitDefender? You said you didn't find anything wrong with it, but that's probably not true since it didn't "wow" you like the others