Which AV To Chose

I know, I know, another one of those AV comparison questions. But please, just one more time.

I have both the one year free Panda Platinum 7 and a license for Trend Micro Internet Security. I've tested both with Eicar and they are both pretty much equal there. I guess those are not the strongest tests to run, but it's all I have to go with.

Is one hands down better than the other? Any and all opinions accepted.

 

Both programs are for sure not the worst but IMHO there are some better programs available.

wizard

 

NOD32 and KAV for instance? Like NOD32, not crazy about KAV.

 

I agree with Wizard that there are better AV's out there, but you should factor in your cost. If you have an opportunity to use a license at no cost you should decide if a $40-$50 fee is worth the 1.7%(or whatever) gain in virus detection rate. I guess that can depend on your web habits and if you keep up to date on your OS security patches.

 

What is IMHO?

 

Also factor in the cost of removing the virus should one get by your scanner because of (comparatively) slow signature updates, PEBKAC, or whatever. That figure can easily sway your decision.

 

All OS security patches (XP home edition, IE 6) are up to date. My web habits are pretty safe. I usually hang around security forums. No P2P and stuff like that.

 

Se7engreen put it well. You might get a better return on your money by spending it on another layer of defense instead of another AV license. Or you could keep your money in your pocket

You didn't mention if you have a dedicated AT, AW, firewall, router in your setup. If you do, then you are probably pretty darn secure regardless of whether your AV is great or merely very good.

 

Panda updates every day. Trend Micro almost every day. But I sometimes still wonder whether those are the most up to date signature updates. I always have doubts.

 

I am running zone alarm free. I don't have a dedicated AT. Not sure what AW is. I have AdAware Plus, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster and Spyware Guard.

 

Weekly updates should be sufficient if you use web and email - email viruses tend to spread quite slowly compared to Instant Messenger or P2P-borne ones. With email the most important thing is to ensure that you do not use software that tries to open attachments automatically (*cough*Outlook*cough*) since this is the main means of infection.

I would suggest looking at other possible vulnerabilities. Use a web filter or configure your browser to block active content (Java, ActiveX, Java/VBScript) to stop sites from loading spyware/malware and that should give you a perfectly secure system.

One more thing - use a firewall to block any unsolicited incoming traffic (that will take care of worms like MSBlast and their ilk and provide a second line of defense against trojans trying to send data out).

 

Respectfully,

No way. Weekly updates are not sufficient. E-mail-borne viruses are your #1 threat compared to any other.

 

It's gotten a little of track here. LOL. I understand comparing one AV to another gets boring after a while. So maybe I should just bring this thread to an end. Maybe I'll flip a coin to decide on whether it's Panda or TMIS.


Thanks everyone.

 

It stands for "In My Humble Opinion"

 

Here's a list of some online terms used in chat(such as IMO,LOL,NP, ect...) Http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/chat.html Now you'll always know what their talking about.

 

I have used almost every av available at one time or another including Panda 7 And trend micro. If I was going to use one of those two it would be panda hands down due to a good detection rate and daily signature updates.


bigc

 

Thank you bigc. That's what I started thread for. To get some feedback from people who were familiar with both products. I was having tough time deciding on these two, and thought someone might have some good information. I have tried some other AVs, but for my needs I liked these two the best.

Yesterday I installed Panda Platinum 7 again. Looks like I might have made the right choice.

 

There are some people that don't like Panda but it is a pretty good AV. It should give you some good service.

 

i've used both Panda Platinum 7 and TMIS 2004. in my opinion TM is the better one. yes detection rate of Panda is good but TMIS is also not bad. moreover its more stable. Panda crashes a lot and its not as configurable as TMIS. you can tweak TMIS, uninstall the firewall so that you can use other firewall and so on. if i were you i'd have chosed TMIS. anyway its also a good plan to use both with one's ON-ACCESS scanner turned off. you'll get double protection this way

oh by the way that cute Panda last appeared for the VB test on June 2002 where as TMIS attended it last month, April 2004.

 

I know. That is one of the problems I had trying to decided on which one to use. I couldn't find any current VB tests for Panda. It's hard to find any current tests anywhere for Panda. I don't know why they don't submit their product for testing.

 

Panda isn't always on VB but it is usually on most of the other test sites.And it does pretty well.


http://www.av-test.org/

 

Thanks for that link bigc. Panda and Trend Micro are pretty much equal. It seems it comes down to which one you feel more comfortable with.