Non-bias Anti-Virus comparison

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skykissme

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#11725 8-Feb-2007 15:29

Not sure if this is a right place to put this forum.. Sorry if it is not.

I'm looking for a non-bias anti-virus product comparison on the net in NZ. Consumer online had one but not interested in doing one for 2007. Does anyone know where I can go for this?

All I need is compare features of Norton, McAfee, Avast, AVG, Sophos.

Thank you

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muppet

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#60175 8-Feb-2007 21:39

I hope I'm not steering you too far off your original requestion, but there are some free anti-virus programs out there (For home use only, that's the catch) that do a great job.

So if price is your reason for asking this questions, then I personally would suggest you look at www.avast.com

If price isn't your reason then I apologise for the intrusion.

tonyhughes

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#60178 8-Feb-2007 21:47

I doubt there is a credible, researched comparison of leading free vs. leading paid sorry.

Avast is great. I use it on all my Windows machines.

I would never touch Nortons consumer anti-anything products again. Too big/slow/unreliable for me.

Trend Micros enterprise stuff rocks. Dunno about consumer grade.

Just my 2c

paradoxsm

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#60188 8-Feb-2007 23:32

Personal opinion?

Forget Trend Micro PcCillin, Norton or Mcafee, They are rubbish, slow and use less.

They really hog the system down and cost far too much $$

The good news, Avast is possibly the best and it's also FREE. has been the best for me so far, I would recommend this.

AVG and Antivir are other free bees but not as good.

The best overall Virus scanner (paid) is Nod32, perfect detection and very small footprint (does not hog system) I have not used this in over 2 years however so i may be wrong now.

tallPete

99 posts

Master Geek

#60191 9-Feb-2007 00:28

There isn't much out there that is unbiased these days. In the case of software products, it can be very biased, especially in the free vs. commercial software model. Most reviews are biased this way. As you can see, even in this thread, everyone has opinions, including me. Everyone has different opinions as to what features are important - memory footprint, number of viruses caught, ease of use, cost. This forum attracts geeks, so opinions expressed here may not fit you or the general public.

How old is the original Consumer opinion? You might still want to go with what they recommended. The quality of mature products relative to one another generally doesn't change much over time, I suspect going with what they rated highly even 3 or 4 years ago may not be a bad choice.

rscole86

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#60192 9-Feb-2007 00:30

I use AVAST on my PC, and the girlfriend uses NOD32 for the last 18 months. Both work like a charm, i have never had a virus on either of the PC's.

A good website to look at for comparisons is http://www.virusbtn.com/index any program that gets a VB100% award is conidred a good program by them.

However I am unsure as to Vista compatibilty with any of the anti-virus programs. Maybe someone else can help here? if it is a issue for you?

bugle

14 posts

Geek

#60204 9-Feb-2007 08:24

NOD32 accept no substitute

skykissme

219 posts

Master Geek

#60209 9-Feb-2007 09:14

Thank you everyone,

I should have given you more detail about my computer network situation. I have 3 computers in my flat plus a linux server for smb and router, and a 2003 server box for my study project so that all my flatmates can use computer in their room without having to sit in the small living room to use internet. Wireless is out of question because of the steel and concrete. I have NT4, 98, and XP. I heard some of AVG commercial one support linux but not sure about it and want to compare with other products. But all the sites I've been to rate the product they are trying to sell as #1 and other products down on the bottom or worse.

So I'd like to compare the feature v.s. what I have to pay before I decide to buy.

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freitasm

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#60214 9-Feb-2007 09:25

It will be hard to find a fair comparison of AV software. It's a feature that would require long hours of testing and only a laboratory could do it.

Frrom personal experience, I recommend Avast which is free for personal use. For your server you have no option to buying the software, which will be more expensive of course.