security programs

Hello
I don't think my question is subjective because I do believe the answer depends upon one's ability and skill with computers.
Firewalls are complicated and so is the functioning of the av system.
All of the combinations I mention below are free to me either because they are just that or because the isp offers it.
>Is the combination of MSE with Win 7 native firewall and MBAM a better idea than Norton's Security Suite?
I am not skilled enouugh to know; I have had Norton before and it is true it is lighter than it used to be - it almost runs your pc.
My amateur reading shows that Norton "catches" more malware than MSE. But that is what I mean by skilled opinions. Some other article might favor MSE.

I guess the question is,"If you wre on line without a router, which would you choose to protect you?"
I hope someone who really knows the facts can advise me as I am on the road under varying circumstances for two weeks and would like to make the right choice.
Thank you

Thank you for your opinion but I think statistically one is more secure than the other. I will do a litle more research.
My choice is limited between the two as both are free.

"But whatever I would do, I would stay as far away from Norton as possible, because it is a resource hog and often slows the computer down to a crawl. Over a decade ago, I used to love Norton and swear by it." -- wanchoo

The OP, seven2, already offered the claim of a lighter demand/load by the product in its current iteration from usage. If you, wanchoo, are still using the product, why? If you are not, how far back did you stop? And can you then really offer a valid claim for the present product?

If statistics mean anything it appears that MS is making a more appealing product and their firewall and security seems to be much improved.
I do thank all of you for your comments and am going with my current setup which has yet to fail me. MSE with the native Win 7 firewall along with MBAM all behind a well set router.
Thank you
Peter
P.S. I had Norton and it did have an a lot of extras but was not the old resource hog it was known to be. It caused conflicts such as having to turn off the tamper protecton in order to perform a systen restore. That is only one example. It strayed away into third party areas and confounded some features in the O.S..

Woud you complement this with one, none or all of the below;
1-filehippo update checker
2-secunia,
3-patch my pc by major geeks.

Thank you for your help to date -we just got power back from storm in MD.