Real Broadband Essentials with McAfee Antivirus

Real took a unique approach with their complete security bundle. As opposed to the other software reviewed, Broadband Essetials decided to take the best security software from different developers and package it in a single subscription based service.

For online protection, McAfee's antivirus and firewall software is included which scores on par with ESET and Norton, however slightly lower than Kaspersky's stand alone antivirus. This is easily made up with $1,000 identity theft protection and recovery service, parental control by the leading name in the industry (Net Nanny), and System Mechanic which is the leader and best selling PC tune-up software keeping your computer running smoothly.

Our reviewers felt there was room for improvement with ease of use however as each individual software needs to be installed separately and there lacks a centralized program to control them all together. This aside, the install is well worth the time considering the quality of each individual software and overall protection the service offers which is currently unmatched by any other bundle in our opinion. Read Full Review

Norton 360 Version 3

The 'all in one' and most complete security solution from Norton comes at a close second. Its strong point is its antivirus feature and value as the software includes 3 licenses for you to protect up to 3 household computers while some of the stand alone antivirus would be more expensive for anyone with multiple PC's and would only come with a small fraction of the features included in this bundle.

Their antivirus detected and removed the highest percentage of viruses from the software reviewed with the most frequent virus definition updates at every 5-15 minutes. Their spyware however fell a little short next to Kaspersky, and their spam filter still needs a little work as tests showed it to let a few more spam messages through while blocking a few legit emails.

Norton packs this bundle with back up / restore features, parental controls, and a PC tune-up feature which provide a quality security, but simply can not compare to the protection provided by the individual software included in Real's bundle.

We consider Norton as a cost effective, reliable choice for a complete security bundle. Read Full Review

Kaspersky Antivirus 2010

Our top recommended antivirus software and for good reason. Kaspersky’s latest version has one of the highest virus detection and removal rates surpassed only slightly by Norton which they make up easily with a much more effective anti-spyware feature..

Their latest version has great design improvements catering to the first time users while still satisfying the more tech savvy who enjoy control and being able to tweek every option.

The only area our reviewers felt room for improvement was with the software’s scan speed as full scans use up quite a lot of resources so you may notice a performance change if attempting to use your PC normally during a full scan. If this is a factor, you may be better off with Eset or Panda’s antivirus which are more transparent, however if this is not a factor, the quality of this software and added protection of a firewall may be worth letting it take it’s time to do the job right.

We strongly recommend Kaspersky’s latest Antivirus 9.0 to anyone looking for a reliable antivirus software. Read Full Review

Norton Antivirus 2010

Norton comes in as a close second with a few pros and cons to consider.

Having the most frequent virus definition updates at anywhere between 5-15 minutes gives them the quickest response time, detecting and removing the latest threats earlier than the other software reviewed.

Tests show Norton to have the highest virus detection and removal rate while scans were transparent enough to let our reviewers perform every day activities (ie: using Microsoft Office, Word, Excel) without a noticeable performance change unlike Kaspersky's latest software.

There is some room for improvement with their anti-spyware feature however as it scored lower than Kaspersky’s. Also, for anyone with more than one PC, an economical choice would be their more complete security bundle Norton 360 as it would be less expensive with a total of 3 licenses included for 3 separate PC's. This aside, our reviewers found Norton to be a highly reliable and very efficient antivirus. Read Full Review

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4

Our reviewers were most impressed by how transparent ESET was able to make their virus scan work. We all have been there trying to work while scanning your computer and having everything you do take 3 times longer. This software however uses very little memory and resources during even a full scan so with most PC’s, you should still be able to run basic programs from Office for example and browse the internet while scanning your PC without seeing a real slow down in performance.

There’s room for improvement with the user friendliness of the interface however as it seems geared to a more tech savvy audience using many technical terms a first time anti-virus software user may not be as familiar with. A good idea may be to take a quick look at their FAQ before using it to understand each component of the software a little better.

That aside, the actual virus and spyware scanner scored above average and is overall very reliable. Read Full Review

Panda Antivirus Pro 2010

The strong point of this software is its lengthy list of features. While every other software reviewed keep some features for larger, more complete internet security bundles, Panda puts all of the necessary antivirus features and much more into their stand-alone antivirus which includes a firewall and email protection feature for both POP3 and web based email such as Hotmail and Yahoo!.

Our reviewers felt they could still use a little work on their user firendliness however, and unfortunately, in independant testing, their virus scans scored the lowest in the pack when comparing to the above software.

For anyone looking to protect up to 3 PC's and feel the added features with Panda are important factors, this may be a good economical choice as the cost is relatively low compared to Norton's larger bundle for example, however we have a hard time overlooking its low virus detection and removal rate in comparison to the above software. We suggest taking the time to read our complete reviews before making a choice. Read Full Review

Norton Antivirus 11 for MAC - Short Review

Originally, we associated viruses and computer threats with PC computers as they have been used by the majority of the population however the growing popularity and overall Mac users keeps making the platform more and more appealing to virus developers as they now having a substantial pool of users to target which seems to keep growing exponentially. This is where Norton comes in with their latest antivirus for Mac.

Our reviewers found Norton’s Antivirus 11 for Mac to provide an ideal security solution for Mac users. The software successfully provides protection against viruses and internet worms, automatically detecting and removing threats. Our reviewers found the software to be very transparent, running in the background without using a lot of resources so you can work normally without a noticeable change in performance while being protected against any threats.

For now, Norton is our only recommended Mac antivirus software though we are currently in the process of reviewing a few others which will be added in the coming weeks.