Bitdefender Total Security 2015, is it worth it for the price?

Avishek Kc

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Aug 13, 2013
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I dont have any problem regarding the price. I've got around $60 allocated for the security software. I just want to know which one to spend my money on. :)

 

CWEric

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Jun 13, 2015
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Oh good you went with the trial, good move. I definetly recommend that instead of blindly buying Bitdefender since its reported to have a lot of bugs by users.. Be careful of higher tier "protections" that a lot of antivirus companies offer since most of the extra features are usually borderline useless, only go for the higher tier upgrade if the price difference is small or if there a feature that you need.

I look at Bitdefender product comparison, here are the breakdown so you understand what extra stuff you are getting on each tier.

Product comparisons:
http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/antivirus-comparison.html

Internet Security Extras:

Two-Way Firewall - This might be an upgrade on monitoring over the already awesome default window firewall but there is a security hole that will make you prefer windows instead. . AV-Comparatives did a report on their test on anti-virus firewall and found that window default firewall actually was more secure than most anti-virus firewalls. Bitdefender was one of them that had a security hole when using wifi I believe. Its a very minor though that require hacking skill to get remote control of your laptop in a public place. Makes sense when Microsoft made their OS windows so they know how to make their window firewall work well and doesn't require intense continuous research to keep it updated like an antivirus. It is design for casual users so it won't have the extra controls like traffic monitoring as Bitdefender likely does so that a plus for getting an antivirus firewall over windows.
http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/avc_fw_201403_en.pdf

Enhanced! Parental Control: Either you plan to use it or it's totally useless.

Enhanced! Cloud Antispam: This is most likely useless. Bitdefender Antispam protection is available only for e-mail clients configured to receive e-mail messages via the POP3 protocol. This means the following:
- E-mail messages received via web-based e-mail services (such as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail or other) are not filtered for spam by Bitdefender.
http://www.bitdefender.com/support/antispam-filter-does-not-detect-any-spam-message-1293.html

Total Security Extras:

Secure Online Storage. Bitdefender Safebox™: Useless, just use Google, Microsoft, Apple, or any other freebies cloud service if you need it to upload files to then download it on any other computer.

Device Anti-Theft: I guess this is for laptop (can't tell if mobile count as PC for this product). This is something but I hope you already took all measure to not lose your laptop/mobile in the first place.

File Encryption: This can be useful. You use this to lock your sensitive files like passwords and stuff on your computer that will then require a password to open it. If your computer is compromise this will prevent your important files to been seen.
 

Avishek Kc

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Aug 13, 2013
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thank you very much for making things so clear for me....i had never been more confused of anything before like i have been in choosing antivirus and security software,,, I downloaded the trail versions of eset, avast ,kaspersky, avg, quick heal and bitdefender.....to my surprise, bitdefender is running well at my pc, it used the least resources and even found a virus in my pc when the rest said my pc was clean....so i guess i might stick with bitdefender if things go well......i would rate bitdefender the highest among them all followed by kaspersky, eset and avast...I would rate quick heal the worst along with avg.....
and also should i use the bitdefender firewall or should i stick with windows firewall?

 

CWEric

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Jun 13, 2015
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Your choice if you have some issue with window firewall or you would like the convenience of the firewall control to be available on your antivirus menu screen. Bitdefender's firewall doesn't add extra security as Window firewall does not need replacing so you can save money by going with their antivirus tier instead. The Antivirus is the biggest selling point. If the price difference between antivirus and internet security is like $5 then sure get it and have it enable. I'm surprise Bitdefender beat Eset in resource, that seem like a lighter program and was bless by customers by it, but your own result is the more important.
 

Avishek Kc

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indeed.... the ram usage was higher in bitdefender than any other AV while scanning and rest of the time it was minimum marginally or next to zero than kaspersky
 

CWEric

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Jun 13, 2015
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It sound like you blindly only rely on article without realizing its limits. Testers do have advance equipments to verify Bitdefender superb detection rate, but they do not have the same experience of the product as a real world customer. Time does not allow them to personally use each antivirus out there for a year as a customer would plus there are so many different kind of computers to examine. Customer feedback on forums and such will show the other piece of how well the product would run. On the Wilders Security forum they tend to favor Eset and dislike Bitdefender base on there experience.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/antivirus-poll-january-june-2015.370663
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/antivirus-poll-august-december-2014.366625

Of course you should not only rely on the community general opinion as well as they too have their drawback with lack of ability on testing their product effectiveness and people opinion base on other people opinion can lead to most popular antivirus instead of most efficient antivirus.

There is also youtube video reviews where they conduct quick test for the viewers to see for them selve (Bitdefender tend to score average here). That too has its pro and cons with sample size being too small and the tester don't have the proper resource to conduct the tests.

I know Bitdefender detection has been rated well, but tests constantly show that the difference between the high antivirus results are usually around less than a percentage. I rather go for an antivirus that is proven safer to work on my system and doesn't have problem with their auto-renew stealing people money.

http://chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php
Go ahead and sort the graph value to see that the difference between Bitdefender and Kaspersky detection rate is only .1 percent and 1.6% for Eset.

And then in the chart if you go to performance, go to the last year tested 2014, and the latest month October Eset is place first place in performance and there is a gap to 2nd place. Kaspersky and Bitdefender tie in 3rd (Kaspersky is reported to slow down users machines to their liking). And from me reading so many posters on other antivirus forum praising of how efficient Eset is that back up av-comparative claims.

That is why I was surprise Bitdefender was lighter for him but every computer is different. If the antivirus work and run great for him, then that is the best antivirus for him to take advantage of Bitdefender superb detection and Bitdefender features. I definitely wouldn't trust Bitdefender with my money without first testing it on my system using their trial first though. And with Kaspersky offering half the price in Amazon to Bitdefender I'll definitely choose Kaspersky over the marginal detection gain of Bitdefender.

Here is a pair of websites that show customer average rating and reviews on Bitdefender, Kaspersky, and Eset. I do not recommend to ever download from download.com as some download are bundle with adwares.
http://download.cnet.com/Bitdefender-Internet-Security-2015/3000-18510_4-10540275.html?#userReviews
http://download.cnet.com/Kaspersky-Internet-Security-2015/3000-18510_4-10012072.html?#userReviews
http://download.cnet.com/ESET-NOD32-Antivirus-8/3000-2239_4-10185608.html?#userReviews

http://www.amazon.com/Bitdefender-Total-Security-2015-Download/product-reviews/B00NPVRYZK
http://www.amazon.com/Kaspersky-Internet-Security-2015-User/product-reviews/B00LU2XOLO
http://www.amazon.com/ESET-NOD32-Antivirus-2015-PCs/product-reviews/B00PEA5EIY
 

CWEric

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Jun 13, 2015
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I'm glad he is using the trial version. That is the best way to review it. And yes Avast is a solid choice for being free, a paid antivirus is not vital to have. Bitdefender also has a free version that is also solid in that tier. Uses the same antivirus as their most expensive total security suit.
 

Avishek Kc

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Aug 13, 2013
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actually, bitdefender to my opinion might hog many systems but i donot know how it managed to run smoothly in my pc than other AV.... the detection rate is much better than any other though,,,,