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Geek Culture / Finally! I have new computer

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 10th Jun 2008 23:00
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My PC and laptop have been nearing the 6/7 marker and today I upgraded! After a long time thinking I'd get one 'soon' and of course 'soon' took 2 years.

First of all, Vista has given me a good impression so far, though it came with Norton, so I'll need to replace that soon - but may as well make as much use of my 90-day trial.

The laptop I've picked up is a nice 17" Acer Aspire Gemstone Blue 6920g Laptop, with webcam, finger print reader, media control panel, 5in1 card reader and Dolby 5:1 surround sound and a widescreen HD screen.

The specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.0ghz
512mb GeForce 9500M Graphics
250GB hard drive
Multi-layer DVDRW
4GB DDR2 Ram


And it's flipping gorgeous, and it only cost £699 from Comet.

I've installed Oblivion and it looks gorgeous and runs smoothly - though it may not sound like much to you lot, but it's a massive contrast to what I've been using. Though for some reason Dark Messiah doesn't run properly, but I guess there's a compatibility mode for XP?

Still need to get used to this keyboard though. So far, totally recommend this system. Also, directed at tha_rami, your collection pack has the dutch version of Firefox, you cheeky git.

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 10th Jun 2008 23:10
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i know how you feel, reminds me of myself when i got a laptop with a 8800m GTX, the first thing i installed was oblivion snd crysis. both ran so smooth (8800m GTX is better than your 9500m )

make sure you take good care of it.

i have not used vista but apparently many people find vista annoying in some aspects.

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 10th Jun 2008 23:27
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Quote: "make sure you take good care of it."


Oh I will...As warantee doesn't cover accidental damage or software problems.

Quote: "i have not used vista but apparently many people find vista annoying in some aspects."


UAC and Norton keeps bugging me, but I've experienced so many performance annoyances and pop ups that UAC won't be too much of an annoyance or other pop-ups, if they are, well I can turn them off right?

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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Samoz83
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Posted: 10th Jun 2008 23:45
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Quote: "well I can turn them off right?"


yep, i can't remember exactly but UAC is somewhere under the system properties

www.firelightstudio.co.uk
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Grandma
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Posted: 10th Jun 2008 23:53 Edited at: 10th Jun 2008 23:54
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Ahhh so you will finally stop whining about your computer as much as you used too? Congratulations! I know how it feels, as I replaced my 5+ year-old "computer" with a computer recently. It was also awesome how DBP compiles 4x as fast now. Doesn't take 3 minutes anymore.

The first order of business now is to give it a name. You will never be a successful nerd without naming your comp. May I be so bold to suggest Skipper? No? How about Happy Lappy? Oh fine then! Give it a name from a crappy anime show, see how I care!

This message was brought to you by Grandma industries.

Making yesterdays games, today!
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bitJericho
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Posted: 10th Jun 2008 23:55
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Quote: "UAC and Norton keeps bugging me, but I've experienced so many performance annoyances and pop ups that UAC won't be too much of an annoyance or other pop-ups, if they are, well I can turn them off right?"


Aye, but I know it's saved me (possibly) a couple of times, so I'd almost say don't. At the very least it gives you a second chance to reconsider when you're about to install some plugin on random sites


Hurray for teh logd!
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 00:15
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Quote: "May I be so bold to suggest Skipper? No? How about Happy Lappy? Oh fine then! Give it a name from a crappy anime show, see how I care!"


Names, well the guy in the Mac shop named my sister's Mac Fred, so maybe Barney?

Quote: "Aye, but I know it's saved me (possibly) a couple of times, so I'd almost say don't. At the very least it gives you a second chance to reconsider when you're about to install some plugin on random sites"


With my bad experiences with computers, I'm naturally cautious. Though I'll give UAC a chance, it hasn't annoyed me yet. Typing this, it's not UAC that's just bugged me, but Acer's back-up utility (I#ll back up when I some bloody CDs, damn thing. )

Quote: "Ahhh so you will finally stop whining about your computer as much as you used too?"


I will, I'll just find another way to wind people up - perhaps repeated "I like potatoes" every 5 seconds.

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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SunnyKatt
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 00:23
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Norton is a beast. It's worth the slowdown!

ZEKEGAMES FORUMS-GOOGLE "Zekegames"
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=115938&b=20
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 00:44
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It's not a slow down for me, the odd pop-up, but not in the way. You mean Norton is actually good? I used to have a lot of trouble with Norton, I guess they've sorted their problems out then, right? (Well I suppose they wouldn't be recommended if they hadn't)

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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SunnyKatt
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 00:49
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Most people I've talked with consider norton the best (nowadays). It is processor intensive however, maybe I just notice more with my wimpy single core (poet!).
My norton saves my live alot, I guess it just a matter of opinion if someone dislikes it.

ZEKEGAMES FORUMS-GOOGLE "Zekegames"
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=115938&b=20
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 00:51
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Well I'm getting 30% on my CPU performance, (with Firefox 3 and Last.fm running), so I guess Norton is CPU intensive, I just don't notice it as I have two cores to spread out the tasks, cool.

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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bitJericho
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 00:55
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Uh, ye, norton is not the best. Not only is it cpu intensive, it doesn't catch a whole lot.

I'd highly recommend Nod32. It's a little more expensive, but 20 times nicer than norton.


Hurray for teh logd!
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 01:01
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I'll have a look at what security packages there are, just use Norton (eat up of how many days I can/need) until I find the best package.

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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Agent Dink
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 02:59
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Quote: "The first order of business now is to give it a name. You will never be a successful nerd without naming your comp."


My desktop's name is Walter and my laptop's name is Lisa.

Many ask why I gave a female name to my laptop and I ask them (if they're a guy) "Would you prefer a guy or a girl to be resting on your lap?"

MISoft Studios - Silver-Dawn

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bitJericho
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 03:01 Edited at: 11th Jun 2008 03:02
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My regular pc is Colbert, my home server's Asimov, my brother's computer is Lore, my online server used to be Robyn (Asimov's daughter), but now it's just one of my domain names

Oh, and my mom's computer's name is deep thought (from the hitchhiker's guide). Yes, I put lots of time into giving my computers good names


Hurray for teh logd!
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SunnyKatt
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 13:03
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I didn't really name my pc... Maybe when I get my next one.

ZEKEGAMES FORUMS-GOOGLE "Zekegames"
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=115938&b=20
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5Louiz
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 20:34 Edited at: 11th Jun 2008 20:35
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And everything from your pocket.. Congrats.

Quote: "but may as well make as much use of my 90-day trial."


Oh... I attached a nice picture to this message. I changed the saturation a little bit and made minor corrections to make it perfect. But I need an opinion! Could you test it and tell me you think?

Cheers.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 11th Jun 2008 21:20 Edited at: 11th Jun 2008 22:20
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Quote: "Quote: "but may as well make as much use of my 90-day trial."

Oh... I attached a nice picture to this message. I changed the saturation a little bit and made minor corrections to make it perfect. But I need an opinion! Could you test it and tell me you think?"


Maybe later, I'd prefer it if I didn't have to download it - though just talking about Norton I'm superstitious as to what it is or may contain. I'm using the period as long as I need it - which probably won't be long, I was looking around town today for Internet Security but all the shops had were Norton or MacAfee, I'll go into Staples tommorow, though I don't have £50-60 to spend on it right now, but if I find something, then cool - I was looking at CA a little while ago, I looked at the reviews and ratings on one site and it sounded pretty cool and the Staples in Derby sold it, so I'm sure our local will have too.


Also, to get a discussion going - as I've said quite a lot of bad things about the game industry, only coming from the point of view of when FEAR was new, so to give the 'newer' games a chance, what would be people say about Crysis and Mass Effect (I hear it's really good, I know Fox made a big deal about the sex scenes - how sexual or 'lovey' is it? If it's a center of the game, then not my cup of tea)

Also, the requirements on Crysis are Dual Core 2.2ghz, will the 200mhz really matter? I mean Doom 3 and Prey asked for 1.7 and 2.0 ghz for my old machine and they played fine?

Also, I'm installing Bioshock right now - I mean I got it cheap - so if it isn't ideal, at least it's still a bit of fun - plus something to test how good my resources are.

[Edit]

Wow, the graphics look amazing on BioShock, it's runs smoothly at maximum settings, exquisite. I hope the game play manages to be cool too. Goes to show Vista isn't such a CPU hog, plus I'm pretty sure I was running under DX10 (the point detail was for DX10 surfaces and that was on) so it shows the performance for cheaper DX10 cards (As this has the GeForce 9500M)

Also, I like the fact when I hit the power button it automatically closes everything, so if something's crashed you recover without having to do a hard reset.(Unfortunately, when I took my headphones out on Bioshock just now a pop up interrupting the game (as it was loading a level) it wouldn't come back up)

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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gearce
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Posted: 12th Jun 2008 03:18 Edited at: 12th Jun 2008 03:18
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Seppuku Arts Posted: 10th Jun 2008 17:01

Quote: "I'll have a look at what security packages there are, just use Norton (eat up of how many days I can/need) until I find the best package."


Have you considered Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus?

LANG MEY YER LUM REEK

Progress is like a wheelbarrow. If you don't keep pushing it, it stops
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 12th Jun 2008 11:59
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No, but I'll give it a look - though CA Internet Security is one that tickles my fancy - I used a trial of it back when it was EZ AV and it worked fine and now CA gets high ratings on the websites I've looked at.

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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tha_rami
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Posted: 12th Jun 2008 12:47 Edited at: 12th Jun 2008 12:59
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Oh dear, Ez Antivirus. That's one program that I disrecommend. Like Norton, it leaves crap on your PC when you uninstall it and several anti-virus programs will refuse to install after removing the program. I've had several complaints about that at work.

UAC can be turned off through the Users & Accounts section in the Configuration screen. Also, use the 10 Vista Speed Tweaks (do use common sense, I disrecommend disabling System Restore as instructed in step 8). Finally, if using Firefox, use the Firefox Tweak Guides. To use this guide, enter about:config in your address bar and you'll get in Firefox's configuration screen. Then search for the text after the user_prefs( thing by entering the name in the search bar at the top. The value should be similar to the one after the comma. So, user_pref("network.http.pipelining", true); means network.http.pipelining should be put on true. Doubleclick on a value to change it.

Sorry, Sepp, for the Firefox screwup. I hope the rest of the programs do work as hoped for? I can really recommend most of them. Also, AVG Free is still my virusscanner of choice for the less computersavvy. NOD32 is nice, but not really free, plus slightly complex and overwhelming for most users. AVG8.0 is a great alternative, although Avast and Kaspersky are valid alternatives. COMODO is the firewall of choice in my opinion - it is quite high-profile, but you can use different settings so that it asks less questions. You can even disable the Defense+ module that acts a bit like an improved version of UAC.

Hope you like your new Gemstone, it's honestly one of the few laptops I'd recommend to gamers at this given time.


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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 12th Jun 2008 12:56
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Alright, what anti-virus do people recommend? (Just a list)

I've followed this list in terms of recommendations:

http://www.starwebreviews.com/Internet-Security.aspx?Refer=GoIS&Keyword=Einternetsecurity

Quote: "Sepp. Hope you like your new Gemstone, it's honestly one of the few laptops I'd recommend to gamers at this given time."


Oh it's really cool - never thought I'd see a game of next gen running in DX10 at the highest possible detail - so I'm pleased, meaning it will probably last, of course the details settings will get lower and lower as the years go by, but it still means I stay up to date with gaming.

Plus it also means better 3D rendering.

As for the tweak guides, I'll look at them

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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tha_rami
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Posted: 12th Jun 2008 13:00
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Plus I edited the above post, it has two extra paragraphs of well-meant non-comprehensible babbling.


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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 12th Jun 2008 14:09 Edited at: 12th Jun 2008 14:11
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Quote: "Sorry, Sepp, for the Firefox screwup. I hope the rest of the programs do work as hoped for? I can really recommend most of them. Also, AVG Free is still my virusscanner of choice for the less computersavvy. NOD32 is nice, but not really free, plus slightly complex and overwhelming for most users. AVG8.0 is a great alternative, although Avast and Kaspersky are valid alternatives. COMODO is the firewall of choice in my opinion - it is quite high-profile, but you can use different settings so that it asks less questions. You can even disable the Defense+ module that acts a bit like an improved version of UAC."


Haha, well the Firefox thing isn't really a screw up, not as if I couldn't install it and use it - I just installed it to download the English version of FF3 (As I didn't want to step one foot into IE) If you recommend those over any paid Internet Security - I'll install them. (I'm just trying to learn from my old XP mistakes so that I don't get any screw-ups)

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 12th Jun 2008 20:06
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Quote: "although Avast and Kaspersky are valid alternatives."


Good good, Kaspersky is £30 - a good price for me, looks like it does enough and compares nicely, so I've chosen that one and bought it. (I've used Avast and AVG before, good software, but I'll give Kaspersky a chance to see if I prefer it - I mean I can always change in a year. )

"Experience never provides its judgments with true or strict universality; but only (through induction) with assumed and comparative universality." - Immanuel Kant
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Jeku
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Posted: 13th Jun 2008 22:28
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Quote: "NOD32 is nice, but not really free, plus slightly complex and overwhelming for most users."


How so? I just installed it and it runs like every other virus scanner. There is no setup per se. Mind you I'm still using the trial, so I could be wrong.


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bitJericho
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Posted: 14th Jun 2008 18:12 Edited at: 14th Jun 2008 18:15
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No, actually, the trial is the exact same as the retail version, all you do is enter a serial.

NOD32 is as easy as any other av, and in fact, in many ways easier. I like the way you can shut off each of it's services one by one if you want to do stuff without a/v (like gaming).

As for AVG, I wouldn't even wish it on my enemies, it's a crud a/v.

Give the 30 day trial a try before you blow it off

Also, if you live in the US and buy it on newegg, you can get it 10 bucks cheaper than on ESET's website:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832114005


Hurray for teh logd!
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tha_rami
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Posted: 15th Jun 2008 04:06 Edited at: 15th Jun 2008 04:06
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I used NOD32 quite a lot, but it scares of many people for some reason. For us, shutting down services is useful, but to my dad it isn't. He just wants A/V protection and be able to do anything and AVG and Avast currently are the only programs I know of that are both fully free and do so.

AVG8.0 is a great antivirus package, in my opinion. It works perfectly and has withheld all virusses on my 'crap-it-up' PC, even when I just go virus-hunting (thats what I call downloading viruses for fun, just to see what they do or if a virusscanner catches them) for fun on that particular 'crap-it-up' PC. The PC was equipped with the full Freeware list in the topic I made a while back. Still works great.


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Jeku
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Posted: 15th Jun 2008 09:02
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All you have to do is dig up a virus scan report and see who's on top. AVG is almost always below the commercial ones like NOD32. Sure, AVG may catch 96% and NOD32 98%--- what's the big deal about a 2% difference. It's actually a big, *big* deal when it comes to protecting your data.


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