Norton Internet Security > ESET(NOD32) Smart Security

[Phantoms]

I would like some views from people who have switched from Norton's Internet Security to ESET's Smart Security. Those who have not switched recently (ESET's has only been available for about a year) please don't jump in with how much better NOD32 is. I want some actual views of users who have recently made the switch. What they like/dislike, how one performs compared to the other, etc.

 

[bbz_Ghost]

NOD32 > ~

Period.

That comes from years upon years of fixing the problems, bloat, system resource hogging, RAM hogging, slow performance, customer dissatisfaction, and several other issues all rolled into one big problem overall known as Symantec and the products they release under the Norton name. They have effectively destroyed Norton's well-earned reputation for good quality products that keep your hardware running the best it can. I was using Norton products over a decade ago and loved 'em, with Norton Utilities 8 being probably the absolute flagship product when Peter Norton himself actually had a hand in the operations.

Since Symantec took over, they have not released ONE PRODUCT under the Norton name that I would even bother pirating if I were to do so - it's really that bad. They destroyed PowerQuest's reputation for good products by buying them out and effectively destroying them forever, even with the takeover of Partition Magic which was PQ's flagship product. It hasn't been updated at all in nearly 3 years yet people continue to use it and suffer the consequences.

Note that as I said in above, my opinions are based on fixing the problems caused by using Symantec/Norton products for thousands of clients - I don't use the stuff because I know better. If one person came to me and said "This sucks" I might dismiss it as personal preference. Two, maybe something going on. But several THOUSAND people with issues all using the same product line? It's shit software, almost as bad as AOL's stuff. Yes, it really is that bad.

You might have been one of the lucky ones that didn't have some issues - those exist and slip between the cracks, it's a given.

NOD32 is just awesome. It's so tiny, so fast, so effective. While it was chosen the Best AV product of 2006 by AV-Comparitives.org, I don't need some website to tell me what I already know. It's the best there is, on all fronts.

Eset Smart Security is the newest product in the lineage of NOD32, with more features, more ability, and is vastly more effective than anything in the Norton lineup. It's small, tight, fast, efficient, barely a memory/resource footprint to care about, updates hourly (take that, LiveUpdate, with your once a week updates at large!) and is simply unbeatable.

It's all I use, it's all I will continue to use, and it's all I will ever recommend.

 

[Phantoms]

I know about the bloat, slow startup, etc.

I have a decent system that runs fine with Norton Internet Security. I'm aware of NOD32's AV credentials, but I am concerned about the new features that Smart Security brings to the table. These are the features that have kept me from getting NOD32 in the past because they were not present. I also know that I could run NOD32, a seperate sypware program, a seperate firewall, etc., but I want a complete product and Norton provides that (with bloat, but it works).

NOD32 provides much of it's speed because a lot of it is compiled from assembly code. The same principles, from what I can understand, are carried over to Smart Security's new features. However, the only reviews I've been able to find on these new features are dissapointing (one being at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2215476,00.asp). This is why I specifically asked for people who have recently switched from one to the other to give their opinions. I know NOD has an almost cult following and I do not fault it for that, but I want true experiences from those that have used both products.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

(ESET's has only been available for about a year)

A year? ESS was publically released end of this past October.

 

[Menelmarar]

NOD32 is just awesome. It's so tiny, so fast, so effective. While it was chosen the Best AV product of 2006 by AV-Comparitives.org, I don't need some website to tell me what I already know. It's the best there is, on all fronts.

Instead of comparing it to an out of date review, perhaps it would be more prudent to compare it to the latest 2007 review.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2007_08.php
NOD32 Anti-Virus
788.965
97,60%

Norton Anti-Virus
798.627
98,80%

I personally use and have always liked the corporate version of SAV, use version 10.2 right now. Very fast, and light. Nothing comes close IMO.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I personally use and have always liked the corporate version of SAV, use version 10.2 right now. Very fast, and light. Nothing comes close IMO.

Points I see and hear all the time when we change their networks from SAV to NOD...
*Shortly after the NOD install...workstations and hitting control center with red flags of malware that SAV never saw before
*Words coming out of clients mouths..such as "Wow..my PC runs snappier now, what else did you do?"
*Ease of my pushing out deployments error free..unlike with SAV...which I had been reselling since way back with version 5.

 

[ThreeDee]

isn't there a definitive quality difference between Symantec corporate and their "Norton" line of products?

I don't use Norton or NOD32 (I'm cheap and go for the freebies I guess , lol) .. but I have had to fix/clean up quit a few computers with Norton running on it



[F]old|[H]ard

 

[Menelmarar]

isn't there a definitive quality difference between Symantec corporate and their "Norton" line of products?

I don't use Norton or NOD32 (I'm cheap and go for the freebies I guess , lol) .. but I have had to fix/clean up quit a few computers with Norton running on it



[F]old|[H]ard

Definitely a major performance difference.

As far as virus detection and cleaning capability. I don't know. Most of those review sites only check the shittastic consumer version of Norton. I suspect and assume that they both pull from basically the same virus definitions database.

And as I linekd before to the AV-comparison.org site, Symantec's virus definition database is pretty vast. Larger than NOD32's, so I typically take the anonymous forum fanboys with a grain of salt. It's always fun to bash the big dog on campus, Microsoft, Intel, Symantec, etc.

 

[XOR != OR]

Points I see and hear all the time when we change their networks from SAV to NOD...
*Shortly after the NOD install...workstations and hitting control center with red flags of malware that SAV never saw before
*Words coming out of clients mouths..such as "Wow..my PC runs snappier now, what else did you do?"
*Ease of my pushing out deployments error free..unlike with SAV...which I had been reselling since way back with version 5.

I will second this. I just recently did a NOD32 deployment and I heard the second constantly and witnessed the 1st and 3rd.

 

[Phantoms]

A year? ESS was publically released end of this past October.

I was including betas.

 

[Phantoms]

Instead of comparing it to an out of date review, perhaps it would be more prudent to compare it to the latest 2007 review.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2007_08.php
NOD32 Anti-Virus
788.965
97,60%

Norton Anti-Virus
798.627
98,80%

I personally use and have always liked the corporate version of SAV, use version 10.2 right now. Very fast, and light. Nothing comes close IMO.

404 error on that link. The link I posted (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2215476,00.asp) was a review of Smart Security done just a week or so ago. This review is one of a few I can find and basically states the added benefits of Smart Security are not ready for prime time. This is another reason why I asked for opinions of people who have switched recently from Internet Security to Smart Security, to see if their experiences were the same.

My subscription to Norton is due for renewal in Decemeber and I had been waiting on ESET's Smart Security release for a while now, but the few reviews out do not look promising. I may just re-up with Norton this year and see if Smart Security has it's act together when it's subscription time next year.

 

[dbwillis]

I switched one customers office (server and clients) from Symantec CE 8 version to NOD32 and besides the 'snappier' workstations and response from the server, the backups on the server finished like over an hour faster.

 

[Hurdler]

404 error on that link. The link I posted (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2215476,00.asp) was a review of Smart Security done just a week or so ago. This review is one of a few I can find and basically states the added benefits of Smart Security are not ready for prime time. This is another reason why I asked for opinions of people who have switched recently from Internet Security to Smart Security, to see if their experiences were the same.

My subscription to Norton is due for renewal in Decemeber and I had been waiting on ESET's Smart Security release for a while now, but the few reviews out do not look promising. I may just re-up with Norton this year and see if Smart Security has it's act together when it's subscription time next year.

It sounds like you've already made up your mind. No matter who says NOD32 is better, and they've used Norton before, you want someone who's "switched recently." Seriously, save everyone the hassle of telling you NOD32 is better, and just go with Norton.

I used Norton back in the day. I had Systemworks 2003, and it was great. Then I switched to SAV (college). and then Sophos. The Symantec Corporate stuff was ok, but it definitely sounds like NOD32 is the way to go.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

And as I linekd before to the AV-comparison.org site, Symantec's virus definition database is pretty vast. Larger than NOD32's, so I typically take the anonymous forum fanboys with a grain of salt. It's always fun to bash the big dog on campus, Microsoft, Intel, Symantec, etc.

If you take AV-Comparatives seriously...you would study their various tests. Definition based scanning of known viruses is one thing...and in that recent test Symantec did pull ahead of NOD32 by 1.2%. But it's performance over the long run that counts. Scroll back through that whole page...get an average.

But more importantly...zero day attacks/outbreaks, malware (the bigger problem these days), and heuristics. On the heuristics test...
NOD32 68%
Symantec only 24%.

With Symantec historically being slower on their updates...lacking strong heuristics hurts them in the real world.

It's weak in adware/spyware. This is more of a problems that we network consultants see in the real world. On clients that I've moved to NOD32...I see faaaaaaar less adware/spyware infestations, which makes things smoother running for me, less annoying calls to have to go clean infested PCs, and happier clients. Just yesterday I had a call to a client who was still running SAV...I'm moving them to Eset this spring with a new SBS install, but until then...situations such as yesterday where one of their PCs picked up Virtumundo or however you spell that fiesty adware trojan family. Symantec briefly came off..NOD went on..to clean the job.

Fanboy for a reason...as I still have my Symantec partner status, as well I've resold other AV brands...and I can use whatever NFR copies I'd want at home, I'd make more money because Symantec is a more expensive product..thus higher markup for me, plus I'd be making more onsite calls to my clients because it lets their PCs get infected more...so at 125/hour...it would be more money in my pocket. But..that's not my goal.

Just based on experience of seeing and supporting many many many different antivirus packages out there...Kaspersky and NOD32 sit at the top for having problem free PCs.

 

[Phantoms]

It sounds like you've already made up your mind. No matter who says NOD32 is better, and they've used Norton before, you want someone who's "switched recently." Seriously, save everyone the hassle of telling you NOD32 is better, and just go with Norton.

I used Norton back in the day. I had Systemworks 2003, and it was great. Then I switched to SAV (college). and then Sophos. The Symantec Corporate stuff was ok, but it definitely sounds like NOD32 is the way to go.

I have nothing against NOD32. I'm hearing a lot about it in this thread and if you would read my comments you will see I have high regard for it. What I'm interested in is Smart Security. Nearly everyone here has jumped in to say how much faster/better/whatever NOD32 is than Norton. Not a single person is commenting on the Smart Security features versus Norton. By this, I mean Firewall, spam, adware, etc.

If you would have read my posts, you would see these added features are what kept me from switching from Norton Internet Security to NOD32 in the past. I know about the bloat, etc. with Norton, but want a complete security product, not just a AV. I also do not want to piece one together and this is why I waited on Smart Security to become available and ask for opinions of those who have switched to it. I do not see a lot of the issues (other than bloat) that other's claim with Norton and have no problem staying with it another year, but if Smart Security could provide the same features as reliably with the added benefit of less bloat, I would switch.

 

[Sean]

I've moved from NOD32 to ESS. I have had no problems. It's been working fine in my spam box, been working smooth. No errors or problems that I have seen reported. I work with computers everyday, Norton, Mcafee, Trendmicro, Computer Associates, One Care and I can tell you the problems I have seen from those are just insane. Complete lock down of their net access, dead AV engine, wont update. I have installed all of the above, worked with it, troubleshot it and I can tell you that NOD32 is much easier, much faster and as safe or safer than most other protection software.

Firewall is good, but not enough data on it yet and I haven't spent the time researching it. Spyware is good, but you don't just have 1 spyware tool. AV is top notch.

 

[TechieSooner]

IMO ESS has been out far too short of a time to get any halfways decent opinion about it.
It's too new- and only for a short amount of time.

Give it a few months and check back on it...