Fast Computers and Technology Trip

Existing home sales fell 1.3% in June, according to the National Association of Realtors. This marks the eighth decline in 10 months.

June's average price of a sold home increased 0.9% from the year prior, to $231,000. This is the smallest year-over-year price increase since May of 1995.

Regionally, June's sales were down 3.5% in the Northeast and 2.3% in the South, while sales in the West and Midwest remained steady.

The supply of unsold homes has risen to a record 3.725 million units. The inventory is a 6.8 month supply at June's sales rate -- the greatest amount of time in over eight years.

Single-family home sales were down 0.9% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.81 million units, whereas sales of condominiums fell 5.5% in June.

David Lereah, NAR chief economist, says that home sales are beginning to level out after five years of record sales. With interest rates increasing, housing sales have slowed.

Lereah suggests that there are two markets seen in the industry right now -- one where red-hot markets are cooling, and the other where moderately priced areas are starting to heat up.

The NAR reports that sales have decreased in New York, Boston, Minneapolis and Chicago, but have increased in Syracuse and Pittsburg.

Overall, sales are increasing in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, while decreasing sales are seen in Maryland and Virginia.

Martin Lukac represents http://www.RateEmpire.com and http://www.1AmericanFinancial.com, a finance web-company specializing in real estate and mortgage rates. We specialize in daily updates, mortgage news, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies!

 

Manufacturer: Norman

Rankings: 9 of 17 Anti-Virus Software




Rating Breakdown:
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Updates
Feature Set
Ease of Installation
Help/Support
Overall Rating:



$49.95
Best Pricing:
Direct from Manufacturer Click to go to Mfg.

CA Antivirus 2008 is a solid virus scanner that works well to find and eliminate viruses. Unfortunately, this is all it can do. There are no extra features included with CA Antivirus beyond the bare minimums. In many cases, this could be considered an asset due to speed increases associated with many minimalist programs. CA doesn't take advantage of this in the 2008 version which still slows your computer down all around.

CA Antivirus Screenshots. Click for more

Ease of Use:



CA Antivirus is extremely easy to use. Full system scans are only 2 clicks from the main program screen. If you need to change any advanced options, of which there are very few, you will have to go a little bit deeper within the program to find them.

Effectiveness:


CA has been known for having solid products throughout their history. They didn't fail to impress this time around. The engine that is used for CA Antivirus is WCL, ICSA and VB100% certified and is well equipped to find and clean any viruses that it finds on your computer.

Updates:


Updates are checked for once a day if set to update automatically. If you have a need to get faster updates, there is an option to change the frequency of the automatic updates. You also have the ability to update manually if you have the need to do so.

Feature Set:


CA Antivirus includes no extended features that we could find in our testing of the product. Standard antivirus features such as a virus scanner, scan scheduling utility and quarantine are present, but comprise the full extent of features included with CA Antivirus.

Ease of Installation:


Installing CA Antivirus was fast and easy. There was a glitch on the registration screen that wouldn't allow us to register the product correctly. This issue did not hold us back as we could just cancel the registration.

Help/Support:


Support for CA Antivirus 2008 includes in-program help as well as online support options. The options available online consist of a knowledge base/FAQs. CA also offers direct phone support for $19.95 per incident. If you are inclined to search around the support website, you will find that they also offer free chat and email support. These additional options are somewhat buried and may be difficult to find.

Summary:


CA Antivirus 2008 is a good product for specific antivirus needs. It includes a good antivirus engine and stops there. Extended features are saved for other products within the CA family. If you have a specific need for JUST an antivirus program, CA Antivirus is a good option.

 

Manufacturer: Norman

Rankings:10

10 of 17 Anti-Virus Software




Rating Breakdown:
Ease of Use
Effectiveness
Updates
Feature Set
Ease of Installation
Help/Support
Overall Rating:




$49.95
Best Pricing:
Direct from Manufacturer Click to go to Mfg.

 

Norman Antivirus and Antispyware is a solid product that suffers from some small quirks that hold it back from being a top 5 product. The scanning features that are included with Norman Antivirus and Antispyware are great as far as detection of viruses and spyware are concerned. Unfortunately, it slowed down our test computer considerably while we were performing simple actions like surfing the web or taking screenshots.

Norman Antivirus and Antispyware Screenshots. Click for more

       





Ease of Use:  

Norman Antivirus and Antispyware is easy to use. It includes a menu that has some options in an intuitive spot, while leaving others deep within a maze of menu options that can be rather difficult to navigate.

For most users, Norman Antivirus and Antispyware has a default configuration that should help to keep them from having to navigate the maze of options and changes that can be made.

Effectiveness:  

Norman is certified by VB100%, WCL Level 1, as well as ICSA Labs. It offers protection that is standard to the middle of the pack of antivirus solutions. Norman has shown a commitment to solidifying their scanning abilities by continuing to enhance their antivirus engine. The current engine, while slow in some cases, is another shining example of Norman's commitment.

Updates:  

Updates are released daily on average. There is also the ability for Norman to push an update if there is a significant threat found. You have the ability to manually update, or set a time each day to look for new updates.

Feature Set:  

Norman Antivirus and Antispyware includes the basic antivirus and antyspyware scanning. Also included are quarantines for both, as well as task scheduling and email protection. The email protection is based on the protocol that is used for gathering and sending email rather than integrating with specific email programs. This allows scanning of email attachments to occur no matter what program you use to handle your email.

Ease of Installation:  

Installing Norman Antivirus and Antispyware was simple and only required a couple of clicks to get done. The software didn't require a reboot when finished installing on our test machine, and updated itself immediately after the install was finished.

Help/Support:  

Norman has a very effective support website that includes product FAQs, customer support forums, a well-equipped knowledge base, as well as security bulletins and webcasts. They also include phone and email support in the event that you have lost your connection to the Internet.

Summary:  

Norman Antivirus and Antispyware is solid option to keep your computer safe from the terrors of the Internet. It includes an award winning antivirus scanner as well as an antispyware scanner. The software does suffer from some issues with overall system lag, but these are due to the on-access scanner, and can be minimized for each system according to Norman's support site.

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Complete protection for home PC and home office

F-Secure® Internet Security 2008 provides a complete and easy-to-use protection against Internet threats. It includes an award-winning antivirus, a personal firewall, an improved anti-spyware, and much more.

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The F-Secure eStore is a quick and easy way to buy award-winning virus protection for your pc. Buy online and be protected in minutes.

F-Secure Internet Security 2008 for Windows

All in one security for your PC. F-Secure Internet Security 2008 protects your PC and data against viruses and all other malware, even stealth threats that use special rootkit-techniques.

F-Secure Internet Security 2008 includes:

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• Integrated Anti-Spyware
  
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• Windows Vista (32-bit) -support!

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