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VIPRE vs. Panda
Choosing the best antivirus software for your home or business can seem tricky.
With so many choices of AV software for Microsoft Windows, there are a lot of options. Often it comes down to making a comparison of two antivirus programs to see which one is the best fit for your needs.
We centered this section of our site around this very idea: compare antivirus software head-to-head to let consumers see how each product rates when compared directly with another product.
Here, we compare VIPRE Antivirus + Antispware vs. Panda Pro 2010. See for yourself which one will be best for your needs at home or the office.
$29.95*
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Vs. |
$49.95*
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Which Has the Best Real-time Protection?
| VIPRE |
Panda |
VIPRE's Active Protection is automatically enabled and provides real-time protection for:
- web surfing
- file access
- email
- USB drives
VIPRE Antivirus detected and eliminated approximately two thirds of viruses and malware in independent testing.
The remaining questionable third was correctly labeled for the user to determine what should be done.
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Panda's "TruPrevent Technologies 2.0" is part of their real-time scanning efforts.
While TruPrevent is a solid idea, it has drawbacks, including
Basically, TruPrevent attempts to analyze potential threats and defeat them before they infect your computer.
Precisely why is unclear, but the net result is that the overall real-time scanning of Panda Antivirus is below average.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE.
While Panda does an adequate job, VIPRE provides better real-time protection with a lower system load.
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Which is Most Effective Against Spyware?
| VIPRE |
Panda |
The antispyware component of VIPRE was formerly sold as their award-winning "CounterSpy" software.
Now that same antispyware engine is seamlessly integrated as part of VIPRE antivirus.
Both work together to thwart incoming spyware and virus attacks on your PC.
Once the initial install is complete, spyware definitions take a few minutes to download. Afterwards, future updates are downloaded much faster.
When it comes to spyware protection, independent testing shows VIPRE to be just as effective against spyware as it is against viruses.
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Panda's overall malware protection is good.
Spyware, viruses, trojans, etc. are all treated equally. We like that.
When it comes to spyware in particular, Panda's "Anti Malware Engine" kicks-in to defeat most spyware attacks.
However, independent testing showed that while Panda detected and deleted most spyware, it wouldn't identify what specific spyware was detected.
Nor did it give the option to choose if the potential threat should be deleted or not.
Full disclosure and choice are always better options.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE.
Both do a good job detecting and removing spyware; however, it wasn't always clear what Panda had removed.
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Which Has the Lowest Resource Usage?
| VIPRE |
Panda |
VIPRE antivirus is well known for its low resource usage for good reason.
During a manual scan, VIPRE's resource usage was less than half that of Panda's.
The CPU usage during scanning was approximately one third less than Panda.
Memory usage during real-time protection was well beneath 1%.
Without a doubt, VIPRE is the lightest antivirus software available.
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Panda antivirus used more than twice the overall PC resources than VIPRE did during a manual scan.
CPU usage was about one third more than VIPRE.
Panda antivirus comes in just under 4% for memory used during real-time protection.
While 4% doesn't sound like much, systems with less RAM would see a significantly greater % used during a manual scan.
When compared to most other best-selling antivirus programs, Panda is a solid (albeit average) competitor when it comes to resource usage.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE.
No other antivirus software that we've seen even comes close to VIPRE when it comes to low resource usage.
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Which Has the Best User Interface (UI)?
| VIPRE |
Panda |
VIPRE's user interface is very clean and simple.
You can quickly and easily see all the information you need on one main screen including
- antivirus settings
- antispyware settings
- last antivirus/spyware scan
- current risk level
- last updates
After a scan, the results page is easy to understand and labeled clearly.
Overall, the entire user interface is pleasing, easy to navigate, and simple to understand.
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The Panda antivirus user interface can be a little confusing.
While the tabs are clearly labeled, we found the section pages took time to figure out what you're supposed to do.
The "Scan" page is clearly labeled and easy to identify tasks, but other pages didn't seem as intuitive.
Panda's user interface is certainly not bad, but there are places it could use some improvements in clarity and usability.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE
Panda's UI isn't bad, it just isn't as good as it could be.
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Which Has the Best Customer Support?
| VIPRE |
Panda |
It's impossible to say enough about Sunbelt's customer support (Sunbelt is the maker of VIPRE antivirus).
Their representatives are all US based and responded quickly and professionally to all support concerns.
Sunbelt has an extensive online user guide and knowledge base plus phone, email, and chat support all free with no hidden charges.
Their support links and phone numbers are all very easy to find and not hidden like some of their competition.
It's obvious to us that Sunbelt is eager to give quality customer support.
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Panda's customer support still needs some work.
They offer the usual knowledge base, FAQ pages, and email support, but they still don't offer phone support to the average 1-license user.
Phone support is only given to those who purchase multiple licenses or their higher-end products.
Bottom line: phone support is crucial these days when it comes to antivirus customer care.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE.
Free, easy, US phone support is a huge plus--even if you never use it; Panda simply doesn't have phone support for most customers.
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Which is Easiest to Install?
| VIPRE |
Panda |
The initial VIPRE install is very fast and easy for anyone.
The setup wizard walks you through just a few setup steps, and then you're done.
After the install, there is a slight lag time while VIPRE connects to its database and downloads the most current virus and spyware definitions.
This is normal but can take 10-15 min. After that, all future updates are much smaller and download much faster.
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Like VIPRE, Panda antivirus is easy to install.
Also like VIPRE once installed, Panda will ask you to do a full update which can take 10-15 min. This is normal.
Future updates to the antivirus software and of definitions were much quicker.
Overall, Panda's antivirus should install easily for most users.
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RESULT: Tie.
Both antivirus programs install quickly and easily and can take 10-15 minutes to update both the antivirus engine itself and definitions.
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Which Has the Best Email Virus Protection?
| VIPRE |
Panda |
VIPRE does a good job when it comes to email virus protection.
VIPRE works with all major email clients, so you should be covered if you're using:
- Outlook
- Outlook Express
- Windows Mail
- Thunderbird
- Eudora
- IncrediMail
- any other POP3/SMTP email client
For an antivirus application, VIPRE gets the job done.
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Inbound emails are scanned before they hit your inbox.
Panda claims to work with all email programs, and while we don't know of any that don't work, but "all" email clients is a broad claim. Your mileage may vary.
Overall, Panda's inbound email scans were good, though it did take more system resources when large emails were being scanned.
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RESULT: Tie.
Both VIPRE and Panda protect your inbox well.
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What's the Best Antivirus Software?
| VIPRE |
Panda |
If we add up all of the major comparison points, VIPRE easily comes out on top at the best antivirus software this year.
VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware is very light when running in the background, yet it's still powerful enough to stop viruses and other malware.
The install is easy; the user interface is clear and concise.
The customer service is excellent, and above all, the antivirus does a fantastic job at identifying, stopping, and destroying all forms of malware including viruses, spyware, trogans, and more.
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While Panda Antivirus has improved greatly over its previous year's blunders, the software (and the tech support) still have room to improve, particularly in terms of system resource usage.
Free phone support is needed for single-license users.
Panda antivirus still runs too slowly for our liking.
The user interface is good but still needs some clarification and clean-up.
We can't call Panda the "best antivirus software," but we can call it "good." If you're already familiar with the Panda brand, it's not a bad choice.
For other consumers, VIPRE will likely be a better choice.
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RESULT: Winner VIPRE.
While Panda is good antivirus software, it can't beat VIPRE when it comes to efficiency, real-time protection, customer service, and price.
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VIPRE vs BitDefender Antivirus
