BitDefender vs. Panda

Two of the best-known, best-selling antivirus applications today are BitDefender and Panda.

Both are made by well-established companies, both come with good reputations as solid antivirus programs.

The question is, if you're comparing BitDefender vs Panda for your needs, is one better than the other, or are you better off choosing another A/V application altogether.

Read on to compare:
BitDefender Antivirus vs. Panda Antivirus.

$24.95*

Vs.

$49.95*

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Which Has the Best Real-time Protection?

BitDefender	Panda
Real-time protection automatically scans emails, files, and web pages by default. Tests show BitDefender has a 96% success rate in blocking incoming viruses and malware attacks. A great score considering no antivirus can be 100% accurate. Overall, BitDefender's antivirus has solid, real-time protection even with a small percentage getting through.	Panda's real-time protection is thorough, but a can be a bit sluggish. Web activity, emails, and file usage are all scanned in real-time. Testing showed Panda antivirus to do much better than previous versions of this software. While no antivirus software is ever 100% accurate, Panda can still hold it's own in real-time antivirus protection.
RESULT: Winner BitDefender While both BitDefender and Panda do an equally good job at virus protection, BitDefender did slightly better in tests.

Which is Most Effective Against Spyware?

BitDefender	Panda
The active, real-time protection enabled by BitDefender also prevents spyware at a high percentage rate. The most current spyware definitions are downloaded at hourly intervals to protect you PC. Testing showed BitDefender to be equally potent against spyware.	Panda's antispyware feature is enabled by default and is equally effective against spyware as it is against viruses. Antispyware definitions are downloaded regularly to keep your PC up to date with the latest protection. Testing showed Panda's antispyware component to be just as effective as its antivirus feature.
RESULT: Tie Both BitDefender and Panda are equally effective against spyware.

Which Has the Lowest Resource Usage?

BitDefender	Panda
BitDefender's resource usage ranges from average to good. During manual scanning, BitDefender used only slightly more memory than Panda. BitDefender used slightly less CPU during a scan than Panda did. When real-time protection was active, BitDefender did better than Panda by a small margin.	Panda ranks average when it comes to overall resource usage. Panda came in just under BitDefender during a manual scan. The CPU percentage was a bit higher than BitDefender during a scan. During real-time protection, Panda came in just under BitDefender. Overall, it seems to be sluggish performance when compared to other antivirus applications.
RESULT: Winner BitDefender BitDefender uses an average amount of PC resources, but still did better than Panda considering Panda's sometimes sluggish behavior.

Which Has the Best User Interface?

BitDefender	Panda
The user interface for BitDefender is simple to use and easy to navigate. Each section is available in tabbed navigation instead of all on one page. The user will need to do some searching in order to find which options to adjust, however. Still, BitDefender offers a clean, easy UI.	There are too many options and too many pop-up screens in Panda antivirus this year. The initial screens are simply and easy to navigate, but once you start getting into the detailed settings, there are several pop-up screens with sub-menus that make for an intricate interface. For advanced users, this level of detail will be no problem, but for the average user, there should be ways of making this information available in a simpler format.
RESULT: Winner BitDefender BitDefender's UI is much easier when compared to Panda's. BitDefender has its shortcomings but is definitely preferable to Panda in our book.

Which Has the Best Customer Support?

BitDefender	Panda
Chat, email, and knowledge base are all offered from BitDefender's customer support. Phone support is also available. Regrettably, they make the phone support very difficult to utilize. There have been several complaints about BitDefender's poor phone support. While it is free, you'll need to click up to 12 links just to find the right number. (Really.) Then you'll be required to create an account simply to ask your question. In our opinion, there are way too many roadblocks to BitDefender's free phone support.	Panda offers the usual customer support pages including: FAQs, knowledge base, and email support. They offer phone support as well, but it's not exactly free. Panda only gives phone support to users that have more than one license. This doesn't sit well with us since most users are only one-license users.
RESULT: Tie BitDefender's phone support is free, but hard to get to. Panda's phone support requires you have more than one license, but is technically free after that. No clear winner in this round.

Which is Easiest to Install?

BitDefender	Panda
The BitDefender install is relatively quick and easy. A standard installation wizard prompts you for some basic questions, then completes the install with no real issues. PC resource usage is minimal, and virus and malware definitions are updated quickly.	There were no significant issues with the Panda antivirus installation. A simple installation wizard is presented, then the install will run and complete without any problems. No heavy resources usage to report, and virus definitions will be updated after install.
RESULT: Tie Both BitDefender and Panda presented no installation problems.

Which Has the Best Email Virus Protection?

BitDefender	Panda
The email antivirus protection in BitDefender is not enabled by default. This is unfortunate. The user will need to go into the Advanced View feature to enable it. It's unclear why BitDefender chose to make this feature inactive by default considering the high degree of viruses being transmitted through email. Once activated, however, BitDefender does a good job at scanning and protecting incoming and outgoing emails.	Real-time email scanning was average for Panda antivirus this year. Testing showed Panda to do an adequate job at scanning emails before they hit your inbox. They've got the right idea, they just need to beef up this feature to be more potent.
RESULT: Tie BitDefender didn't enable email scanning by default, but did a good job when they did. Panda is slower but does a decent job. We rate it a tie.

What's the Best Antivirus Software?

BitDefender	Panda
BitDefender Antivirus wasn't our "best antivirus software" choice this year, but they came in first in 2008 for good reason. The antivirus and antispyware features are top notch. Our only real concerns are the difficult-to-find phone support and initially disabled email protection. However, we still recommend BitDefender as an alternative to most antivirus applications, and it still shapes up better than Panda this year.	Panda Antivirus Pro has plenty going for it this year, especially considering their less than stellar versions of past years. The resource usage is average to good (although a bit sluggish from time to time), the phone support could be much better, and the user interface could use some re-design. But overall, Panda's still a viable option for decent PC antivirus protection.
RESULT: Winner BitDefender BitDefender is less expensive, slightly better on resource usage, and overall a solid antivirus application. Panda has its strengths, but simply couldn't beat BitDefender head-to-head.

BitDefender vs Panda: Conclusion

BitDefender	Panda
#1 $24.95*	#2 $49.95*
* No coupons currently available.	* No coupons currently available.
CONCLUSION: Winner BitDefender