McAfee LiveSafe review

There are still a few things missing that competitors include in their internet security suites. The most obvious being the lack of backup (online or local). This might make some consumers want to consider McAfee Total Protection 2015, which includes 5GB of online storage through Mozy. Plus, there's not much to signal your device needs a "tune-up," aside from a vulnerability scanner that alerts the user of out-of-date applications.

When running scans with LiveSafe on a Mac system, the scans ran rather quickly and efficiently. Although, admittedly, the Mac version of this software is a shadow of the PC one. This isn't a complete loss as Mac OS is generally a bit more resilient to malware. There doesn't seem to be any noticeable fingerprinting as, when we repeated scans, LiveSafe scanned the same number of files. Plus, we were able to run scans in the background without any noticeable resource drain, which is a huge advantage despite being a hefty 170MB.

Price-wise they've even taken it a notch down, where previous versions like All Access costs $99.99 per year with the price to protect all systems in a household reaching $149.99, LiveSafe is currently available for $79.99 per year for the whole household to be covered. You can even get a deal of $19.99 for the first year when purchasing a qualified PC or tablet (i.e., Intel Ultrabook). Another perk if you purchase with the eligible PCs - a McAfee tip and help hotline in addition to the 24/7 tech support all customers get.

We liked

Having full coverage security across every PC, Mac and mobile device in your household is an amazing feature - it's economical and consistent. Plus, the anti-theft feature is a great addition to the suite, as it was previously only available on mobile.

We disliked

While the unlimited number of devices per subscription is a great deal, the exclusion of Windows phones and Chromebooks from protection leaves some family members in the lurch when it comes to protecting their devices.

Final verdict

Antivirus programs used to be simple - we protect our PCs because they were our main (possibly only) portal to the web. McAfee has adjusted smoothly to the transition to a multi-screen world with a security suite that offers protection for every aspect of your digital life.

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