Pros
- Free version is surprisingly laden with features
- Protects against all major threats
- Provides protection for email
- Web protection
- Annual subscription rate is substantially lower than for other competitors
- Chat, email, and phone support options
Cons
- More resource intensive than some other options
- Slow scan time
- No free online scan
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Get AVG Premium Security for just $69.99 if you buy through this link! |
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The Geek’s Take
Overall, AVG Premium Security 2013 is a solid anti-malware package offered at competitive rates that will provide great security for you and your family. The price and renewal rate for AVG is highly competitive with its competitors and is even more affordable than many similar solutions out there. The downsides are that it’s a bit bulky, requiring more space and performance resources on your computer. It takes a relatively long time to perform a full scan too, clocking in at almost an hour according to our data. Overall, this is a solid package that provides great value for its price making it among the best in keeping your computer safe from threats.
Full Review
Protection
AVG Premium Security 2013 offers secure coverage against all major web scourges while also including Internet protection. AVG Premium Security offers protection while surfing the web like password encryption and offering security passwords to best ensure that you can be free to surf the web without risk of having your personal and financial information exposed. No single software package will be able to provide protection against 100% of all threats in circulation, but if you keep AVG updated promptly and continue to renew your subscription, you can be assured that you are providing yourself the very best security possible. For maximum protection, it is recommended that you use your locally installed antivirus software in conjunction with a scan from a service like Kaspersky, which is available online.
For a fully itemized list of what protection AVG Premium Security 2013 provides, check out this chart.
Performance
AVG performs a full scan in about 57 minutes according to our tests and and requires 169 MB of memory during the scan, putting it well behind its peers. Even more disappointing is the memory usage when idle – a whopping 74MB – enough to choke lower end PCs even when it’s doing nothing. We’d definitely recommend only users with more powerful systems invest in AVG as an antivirus solution. For protecting less powerful hardware, something like our Editor’s Choice winning Webroot SecureAnywhere is a better choice.
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| Memory Usage (Idle) | 3.2MB | 23.9MB | 74.7MB |
| Memory Usage (Scan) | 17.5MB | 131MB | 168.7MB |
Add-Ons/Features
AVG Premium comes loaded with a lot of attractive features. There is a free trial version available to test the product before you commit to buy. Once installed, you can scan on-demand to get the most up-to-date information on your system as possible. If offers protection in real-time as well during boot-time, and protects against the major threats like trojans, spyware, malware, worms, rootkits. Surfing on the web is protected as well, offering identity theft precautions and password encryption.
For a full list of features, check out AVG’s product page.
Support
AVG Premium Security offers a full array of support options for its users including chat, email, and phone. Their site also offers a number of self help type resources including community forums and a knowledgebase. It’s a pretty extensive array of support options, putting it a notch above the competition in that arena.
Value
AVG Premium Security packs in a lot of features that many other antivirus software packages leave out. While this can mean some lags in performance time for full scans, you can rest easy knowing that you are well protected against the major threats in circulation today. Pricing is middle of the road initially at $69.99, but a bit cheaper annually than the competition.
Get AVG Premium Security for just $69.99 if you buy through this link! |
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Can’t decide on an antivirus? Check out our handy comparison chart!