Lenovo and Symantec hook-up for trial security

by Steve Ragan - Sep 16 2008, 19:20

Lenovo, the computer company that bought IBM, recently announced it is teaming up with security vendor Symantec to offer Norton Internet Security on laptops. The software will come installed on Lenovo’s IdeaPad hardware line.

Lenovo said the new IdeaPad products will come with a 90-day trial of Symantec’s Norton Internet Security. The security software will also be a part of the OneKey recovery system that's included with IdeaPads that offer system recovery in the event of a complete system failure.

The problem is that while Symantec has been an OEM vendor for the ThinkPad and IdeaPad systems for a while now, the software is only a trial and, as such, can be seen more as bloatware. The idea of offering this layer of security is great; most companies that use the Lenovo line of notebooks (ThinkPad or IdeaPad) will likely use a managed form of Norton anyway.

However, for home users or small business users that simply went to Lenovo and bought a new laptop, this offering is like a carrot on a stick. The system will get a great level of protection for 90 days, and then the user is left hanging.

Considering that the USeries of IdeaPad will run about $1800 USD to just under $2000 USD, there should be an offer of complete service with regard to security. Norton Internet Security 2009 is only $70 USD for a three-PC license. If a discount for a single license could be offered, this could easily be included in the cost of the laptop, or simply covered by Lenovo.

While the offer of inclusive security is a great one, as no one should go without this, the offer of 90 days of coverage is something that seems lacking. Perhaps vendors that want to pitch security with new systems should go all-out and offer full coverage instead of trials.

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