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Symantec Norton 360 2.0 review

£60 inc VAT

Manufacturer: Symantec

Our Rating: We rate this 4 out of 5 User Rating: Our users rate this 3 out of 10

Norton 360 2.0's basic specification is unchanged: it offers comprehensive protection against spyware and virus malware, data loss, identity loss and phishing, thus covering most if not all current security risks.

Symantec Norton 360 2.0's basic specification is unchanged: it offers comprehensive protection against spyware and virus malware, data loss, identity loss and phishing, thus covering most if not all current security risks.

One year on and it's time for a revamp of Symantec's premier home security product, Norton 360.

Norton 360 2.0's basic specification is unchanged: it offers comprehensive protection against spyware and virus malware, data loss, identity loss and phishing, thus covering most if not all current security risks.

Click here to download a free trial of Symantec Norton 360 v3.0

Norton 360 2.0 will also tune-up your PC, getting rid of digital 'fluff' clogging up your hard drives and defragging it along the way.

We all know that spam is not only a major irritant but also a common attack vector for malware. For some inexplicable reason, antispam protection is not installed by default in Norton 360 2.0, and you have to download it (along with parental controls) as add-on – maybe it really should be called Norton 330 until you do.

Version 2.0 brings with it a laundry list of improvements (several filched from Norton Internet Security 2008 - review here), both in terms of improved usability and new features.

Symantec has taken on board the issue of resource hogging which has dogged its security products in the past. Norton 360 2.0 now has a much lighter footprint than its predecessor; it now waits for 'quiet periods' before performing CPU intensive tasks such as scanning. That said, it came unstuck on our PC when some errant software grabbed 100% of CPU cycles, causing an AV scan to take all night long.

There's now protection against the major risk of drive-by downloads and support for Firefox. With Norton 360 2.0 you can back up to high-capacity devices such as Blu-ray discs, (reducing the necessity for multiple disc backups), plus iPods.

You still get a free 2GB online backup allowance. Zero day protection against malware continues to be provided by SONAR, which also manages Norton 360 2.0's two-way firewall.

Norton AV products continue to get top VB100 scores so you need have no qualms about Norton 360 2.0's protection against malware.

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Norton 360 Expert Verdict »
Post Review

Reviewed by HelloBanana on Thursday 27 August 2009

5 star rating

Duration of ownership: 1 years

Strengths:
Everything but antispyware

Weaknesses:
Antispyware module is weak

Overall Evaluation:
Great, fast just a weak anti-spyware

Reviewed by LANDCRUISER on Wednesday 01 April 2009

5 star rating

Duration of ownership: 2 years

Strengths:
Works well no problems with it on Vista computer well protected.

Weaknesses:
None.

Overall Evaluation:
Has kept my PC working with no problems.

Reviewed by sunnystaines on Friday 07 November 2008

3 star rating

Duration of ownership: 2 days

Strengths:
Fast scans, less drag on resources, will run scans, tools, cleanups when ever PC is idle and not in use.

Weaknesses:
Took ages to install, problems with live update sorted with Symantec dianostic online tool, poor user interface, backup lacks the option to image a drive like Ghost.

Overall Evaluation:
Would be better having Norton Internet Security with Ghost included plus the HDD tools and reg checker rather than the clumsy 360 interface.

Reviewed by jkpn1 on Sunday 10 August 2008

1 star rating

Duration of ownership: 1 days

Strengths:
None

Weaknesses:
Retrograde step from v1.0. Backup no longer allows folders/files from external drives.

Overall Evaluation:
Will be uninstalling and going back to v1.0 then changing product once my subscription expires.

Reviewed by bigp17 on Monday 23 June 2008

1 star rating

Duration of ownership: 4 weeks

Strengths:
Very few that I can find.

Weaknesses:
Frequently stops working - requiring a reboot. Regularly does not start up fully - requiring several reboots. Login can take a long time.

Overall Evaluation:
The product does not work well on XP. I cannot comment about Vista. After a long battle with Symantec - they have finally agreed to pay my money back (I had the original version - which they tried to fix, they send me an update to the new version) this still had troubles. I used to swear by Norton - I now swear at it.

300MHz or higher processor
256MB of RAM
Windows XP/Vista
300MB hard disk space
IE6 or higher
POP3-compatible email client
  • Ease of Use: We give this item 8 of 10 for ease of use
  • Features: We give this item 8 of 10 for features
  • Value for Money: We give this item 8 of 10 for value for money
  • Overall: We give this item 8 of 10 overall

A raft of small but useful improvements make Norton 360 2.0 a useful addition to anyone's utility tool bag. It remains powerful and yet very easy to use. At the same time, it's not dumbed-down enough to deter power users.

There are currently no price comparisons for this product.
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