I've got AVG on this laptop, and it's also a pain in the tail! When it updates at startup, it's S-L-O-W!!!!!!!!!!!!! VERY! I'm FAR from a computer guru, and read whey many of you are into which really helps. (I'm in my late 30's, and we had NO computers in High School. After the Marine Corps, and while in College, I didn't take a single computer class as I was intimidated by them. I should be shot at high noon for that!!!! )
another vote for ESET. for your guys looking to save money (like me) there is a way around paying for ESET. just continually get a free trial on their website and use a fake email address each time (like from tenminutemail.com). it's a pita to uninstall/install new version every month but it's free. just throwing it out there.
I switched from Norton about 2 years ago. Untill that time I had used various versions of Norton for 6 years.
I'm using Webroot. I have it on 3 machines. I think I pay about $30/year for all 3. It takes a little time to start up each morning, but once it's running, I don't think it bogs my computer down as much as Mcafee or Norton did. It blocks everything that comes in and asks me if I will allow it. I have it set to "always allow" my trading platforms (Ninja and TOS) so they never get interrupted. Everything else goes through webroot first. I've been using it since 2007 and have had no issues