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VIPRE vs. BitDefender
We've tried to make our reviews as clear as possible to help you compare antivirus software and make the right decision when it comes to purchasing the best antivirus software for your needs.
Still with so many opinions out there, choosing the best antivirus software can still be a bit confusing.
Thus, with this in mind, we've created a series of pages that place each antivirus software head-to-head with each other to better clarify what each antivirus software is capable of.
$29.95*
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$24.95*
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Which Has the Best Real-time Protection?
| VIPRE |
BitDefender |
Real-time monitoring with Active Protection, email, file, and web scanning.
Independent tests show that VIPRE antivirus actively stopped two thirds of malware before it had a chance to do any damage, and the remaining third was caught and labeled as potentially dangerous for you to decide.
A process monitor also allows you to see what real-time threats may be running.
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Real-time e-mail, file and web scanning.
With a high, independent testing rate of 96% success, BitDefender antivirus stopped the majority of incoming virus and malware attacks.
Only a small percentage got by, but that's to be expected. No antivirus is 100% accurate.
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RESULT: Advantage VIPRE.
BitDefender also provides excellent coverage, but we give the nod to VIPRE here.
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Which is Most Effective Against Spyware?
| VIPRE |
BitDefender |
With antispyware built in to VIPRE, spyware is treated with the same caution as all viruses and malware. We think this is smart.
Real-time scanning is integrated by default.
Independent tests show VIPRE as good at defeating spyware as it is with all viruses and malware.
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Effective real-time spyware protection also is an automatic feature with BitDefender.
Like VIPRE, BitDefender's hourly updates keep newly created spyware away from your PC.
Testing showed BitDefender good at finding and preventing spyware.
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RESULT: Tie.
Both products offer hourly updates. Both companies release definitions as needed.
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Which Has the Lowest Resource Usage?
| VIPRE |
BitDefender |
VIPRE antivirus does exceptionally well in this area: memory used during a manual scan was half that of BitDefender.
CPU used during a scan was about one third less than BitDefender.
Memory used during real-time protection was about 0.5%.
Overall, testing showed VIPRE to be one of the lightest antivirus software applications on the market.
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BitDefender performed above when it came to resource usage, but not as well as VIPRE.
Compared to VIPRE, BitDefender used:
- 200% more memory in a manual scan
- 33% more of the CPU
- 4% of the memory during real-time protection
While BitDefender is still lightweight compared to most antivirus software, it's nowhere near as light as VIPRE.
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RESULT: Advantage VIPRE.
Sunbelt did a stellar job with VIPRE in this arena.
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Which Has the Best User Interface?
| VIPRE |
BitDefender |
VIPRE has a clean, simple UI.
The overview screen quickly and easily shows you things like:
- active features
- last scan time
- last update time
- your current risk level
The scan results page is also easy to read and understand.
Everything is clearly labeled and easy to navigate.
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The UI for BitDefender antivirus is fairly easy to navigate.
Instead of one easy to view screen, BitDefender displays tabs for each function.
While still easy to use, BitDefender could take a cue from VIPRE by displaying all the major functions and alerts on one screen instead of splitting them up.
However, BitDefender still does a good job at simplifying the screens.
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RESULT: Advantage VIPRE.
User interfaces are personal preference to some extent; we found it easier to get the information we wanted from VIPRE with less digging than in BitDefender.
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Which Has the Best Customer Support?
| VIPRE |
BitDefender |
Sunbelt, makers of VIPRE Antivirus, offers free support via phone, email, user guide, and knowledge base.
All support is US based and responded quickly and effectively to our inquiries.
The user guide and knowledge base are interactive and comprehensive.
Support phone numbers and contact info are all easy to find and plainly labeled.
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Practically speaking BitDefender offers just knowledge base, chat, and email support.
Phone support is also available; however, we've gotten numerous complaints about how difficult it is to find the support number.
Additionally, their online knowledge base support system requires considerably more digging to get answers.
Their "Free Customer Support" link requires 12 clicks just to get to the point where you can create an account to ask a question!
Whether you want to use the knowledge base or get email support, prepare for a lot of clicking.
Definitely too many hoops to jump through for our liking.
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RESULT: Advantage VIPRE.
Clearly, Sunbelt is proud to stand behind and support VIPRE.
BitDefender supports their products, too, but really makes you work to get in contact with someone.
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Which is Easiest to Install?
| VIPRE |
BitDefender |
The VIPRE antivirus install is fast and easy.
It guides you through some easy setup steps, then that's it.
There's a bit of a lag-time after the install as VIPRE update your virus definitions from Sunbelt's database, which can take 10-15 min.
After that, all future updates are much, much faster.
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BitDefender antivirus installs easily, too.
There's a standard wizard-based install as with nearly all software that guides you through the setup.
Minimal PC resources are used, and definition updates are quickly installed.
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RESULT: Advantage BitDefender.
Both applications installed easily; BitDefender definitions updated more quickly.
For most users this shouldn't be significant because ongoing antivirus updates are equally fast in both.
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Which Has the Best Email Virus Protection?
| VIPRE |
BitDefender |
VIPRE's email protection is strong for an antivirus application.
VIPRE's email scan supports all the big names including:
- Microsoft Outlook
- Outlook Express
- Windows Mail
- Other POP3 and SMTP mail clients (Thunderbird, IncrediMail, Eudora, etc.)
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In BitDefender email scanning isn't enabled by default; you'll need to go into the Advanced View settings to activate it.
It's unclear why Bitdefender chose to disable the email protection in the default settings given the history of
viruses being transmitted via email.
Once activated, BitDefender scans incoming and outgoing email with the same speed as it scans files on the rest of your filesystem.
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RESULT: Advantage VIPRE.
While both products protect you from email-borne viruses, VIPRE does so by default.
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What's the Best Antivirus Software?
| VIPRE |
BitDefender |
Considering all the major points listed above, VIPRE comes out ahead in this comparison.
VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware is light, easy to install, and powerful against viruses, spyware, and malware of all kind.
With excellent customer support, and a low sticker-price, VIPRE is hard to beat this year.
We can confidently say VIPRE is the "best antivirus software" of 2009.
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BitDefender Antivirus may not be the "best antivirus software" reviewed for 2009, but it was our top pick last year for good reason.
Even though VIPRE beats BitDefender on speed, low system resource usage, and user interface, BitDefender is still a solid and powerful antivirus program.
And, aside from VIPRE, it easily out-performs most other antivirus applications on the market today.
And the price is still reasonable for the overall antivirus package.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE.
Both VIPRE and BitDefender are among the best antivirus applications for Microsoft Windows PCs. Aside from running lighter, it also comes with better support from the manufacturer.
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VIPRE vs BitDefender Antivirus
