Anti-virus roundup: Introduction
Got a PC riddled with more viruses than a bus driver’s armpit? The PC Authority Labs team has tested 10 leading anti-virus packages to see which ones really deliver the goods and keep your PC clean.
Anti-virus roundup: Performance Analysis
Testing anti-virus software is a tricky endeavour at the best of times, due to the inherent nasty nature of the test subject. For this anti-virus roundup, we asked independent anti-virus testing lab, AV-Test.org (www.av-test.org) to conduct the testing for us in their controlled environments. AV-Test.org has access to thousands of viruses, and is a respected anti-virus testing lab.
ASROCK P4VT8
A basic barebones motherboard with a price to match, ASROCK's P4VT8 Pentium 4 motherboard may not be the most feature packed mobo around, but what it lacks in integrated components, it more than makes up for with its bargain basement price tag and practical applications.
ASUS S5200N
This pre-production notebook was shipped to us in a professional looking silver lockable briefcase. We were expecting to see top secret government papers rather than a slimline ultra low voltage (ULV) notebook.
AVG Anti-Virus 7.0
AVG offers a free home user edition with free updates for the life of the product and that has made it popular with a lot of home PC users looking for a cheap anti-virus solution.
Axis 205 Network Camera
It looks like a standard webcam, but the Axis 205 is cleverer than that. Its internal web server and 10/100 Ethernet port mean it can be directly connected to and accessed by anyone on the network.
Canon Digital Ixus i
If the Ixus i were any smaller it would be plain inconvenient to use. Weighing just over 100g, it’s certainly a camera you can keep with you all the time. As you’d expect at this size and price, there are limitations, the most obvious being the fixed focal length lens, but there’s plenty else to be thankful for.
CyberLink PowerDirector 3
PowerDirector 3 is the latest version of CyberLink’s DV editing application aimed at home video enthusiasts. It has been radically overhauled since the previous version 2.5, and includes many new features as well as a revamped interface.
On the capture front, a new quick-scan option enables fast pre-capture preview of an entire 60-minute DV tape in just six minutes. There’s also a new title editor, Picture-in-Picture (PiP) motion effects can be easily added, a three-track audio mixer provides real-time mixing during playback, and you can now record voiceover narration during timeline playback of a project.
Dell Axim X3i
When Dell shook the Pocket PC world with the aggressively priced Axim X5 (March 2003, page 41), its rivals could always point out that the X5 was bulkier and uglier than their devices. With its latest Axim, however, Dell has produced a slimmer, more attractive model without compromising on spec, features or price.
Digicor Gaming keyboard
Any serious gamer knows that their reputation is everything; they also know the best hardware often gives the playing performance required to stay at the top. The Digicor gaming keyboard features all the gaming functions you'll need to play at your peak.
DVD IDLE PRO
In order to control distribution of movies and prevent piracy, many most DVDs are region protected to ensure that they cannot be played outside of their region of issue. In short, this means you can't play American DVDs on an Australian player and vice versa. To further complicate the matter, PC and notebook DVD drives are locked to the least region set with DVD drives correspondingly locked after five changes of region code by the user.
eTrust EZ Armor Antivirus & Firewall
Computer Associates is offering a free 12 month subscription of eTrust to all Microsoft users as part of Microsoft’s international PC Protect campaign. The problem is that most home users will find it too difficult to configure.
HP iPAQ H4150
The iPAQ's evolution is almost complete. The first signs came with the H1940, a Pocket PC that finally managed to be good looking, tiny and powerful - and it even included Bluetooth. But the H4150, while looking rather similar, makes the H1940 look almost Stone Age, with HP squeezing WLAN into the package, upping the processor speed to 400MHz and improving the screen still further.
HP Scanjet 4670
At first glance, HP's latest product could be mistaken for an oversized, landscape-orientated photo frame, or even a fancy document holder. But the Scanjet 4670 is, of course, a scanner, the like of which you've probably not seen before. The 4670 defies traditional categorisation, because while it relies on familiar scanning mechanics, they're employed in an unusual fashion.
Kapersky Antivirus 4.5
Kapersky Antivirus has been around for some time and often pops up on home computers as the uneducated user’s anti-virus software of choice. Unfortunately, it really isn’t as user friendly a program as it should be for novice users.
LG LM50-3
Wrapped in an attractive silver chassis, this sexy looking notebook is easy on the eye, and features all of the latest gadgets. The left-hand side of the machine features the usual legacy parallel and DB9 monitor out for use with an external monitor, although both are hidden beneath a rubber cover so as not to ruin the smooth clean lines of this housing.
Mac OS 10.3 Panther
It's a little ironic that every new version of Mac OS comes closer to Windows when you consider that Microsoft was originally accused of hijacking Apple's interface.
Apple claims to have put 150 new features into Panther, but the two it highlights first are improvements to Finder and the new Exposé[alt+0233 in courier new]. The improvements to Finder bring it one step closer to the Windows menu system, which since 95 has been superior to Apple's. The new one click-reveals-all Finder was sorely needed and makes Panther much easier to navigate than its predecessors.
Modtech Civic 3200.dX
Absolutely blitzing the field, the Labs Winner this month wasn't a tough decision. Streaking ahead with its unbelievable feature set, the Civic 3200.dx went on to crush the other contenders with colossal performance scores.
NOD 32 Antivirus v2
The unusually named NOD32 is finding favour with a growing number of users despite its Spartan interface, which concentrates more on the nuts and bolts of the job at hand than trying to look good.
Norman Virus Control 5.7
Norman Virus Control is a very unobtrusive anti-virus program that sits in your system tray and performs much like Norton AntiVirus from Symantec. It scans all incoming emails, new files, removable media and downloaded files from the internet as a matter of course without any user interaction.
Norton AntiVirus Pro 2004
Norton AntiVirus (NAV) remains the world’s most popular anti-virus program -and for good reason. It is the ideal set-and-forget anti-virus protection that is as close to idiot-proof as anyone has yet got. However, it is not the cheapest and some of its competitors, such as PC-cillin now offer more for the money.
O2 Xda II
Purely because of its size, even the smallest PDA isn’t something you’re likely to feel comfortable holding to your ear as a phone for long periods of time. And, despite its slim curves and great physique, the Xda II is no exception.
O2 XPhone
The o2 Xphone is one of the first phones in Australia to use Microsoft's new embedded SmartPhone 2003 OS, which is a highly, highly pared down and customised version of Windows XP. Anyone familiar with the Windows interface shouldn't have much trouble operating this phone. Having said that however, it does take some getting used to when navigating the menu systems, but it doesn't actually take long to get up to speed.
Olympus E-1 Digital
A completely new digital SLR system has arrived in the shape of the Olympus E-1 and is perhaps the most eagerly awaited professional camera this year.
Panda Antivirus Platinum 7.05
While this Spanish anti-virus program is hardly a household name in Australia at present, it is gaining in popularity through its availability on the internet. Its low cost (around $78) and plentiful features have been a strong selling point for people looking for something a little less expensive than the popular Norton or Trend Micro products.
Pioneer Power PC
Locating the sweet spot in the market for well kitted out machines on a budget, Pioneer has come to the party by introducing it's Power PC model, featuring all the tech goodies without the sour aftertaste of a high price ticket. This black futuristic PC looks quite schmick with its front mounted LCD readout displaying up to date temperature information on the system, so you know exactly what's happening with your cooling.
Red Hat Enterprise WS 3
Red Hat's latest offering is a finely tuned offensive into the lucrative corporate desktop market. With the Linux steamroller on a collision course for Redmond the last year has seen a number of major wins for the open source upstart with corporations such as IBM and governments that include Germany, France, China, Japan, Russia and Britain either already making the switch or considering it. And not just for servers, but on workstations too.
SONY CLIÉ PEG-TJ35
Sony never lets you forget that it creates Personal Entertainment Organisers; Personal Data Assistants simply aren't trendy enough. But if you ignore the marketing, it rapidly becomes clear that the TJ35 is going head-to-head with the supposedly business-oriented Palm Tungsten E (January 2004, cover CD).
Toshiba Portégé M200
When we ran four tablet PCs in December 2002 (Issue 61, page 36) we got plenty of response from readers looking to find out more about them. Over a year on now and tablets have increased dramatically in spec and design although pricing hasn’t reduced as much as we’d expected - possibly since they still haven’t made mass market appeal and sales.
Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security
PC-cillin is no longer just an anti-virus program - it is a full internet security suite that includes a personal firewall and spam filtering - and it costs between $20 and $40 less than the equivalent Norton product.
Ulead DVD Workshop 2
Despite the fact it's aimed at professional users - corporate and event videographers and advanced home-video enthusiasts are the target market - Ulead DVD Workshop 2 retains many of the ease-of-use features for which the company has become known.
VisionMaster AV Sender
The problem with having a DVD player, cable TV or a VCR is that when you want to use them you’re usually relegated to the lounge room where they’re set up, and not the secondary comfort of a spare room, the kitchen or your bedroom.