Aargh! Bamboozled by security licensing - what works for my family?

Guide this reader through the vendor maze

By Drew Cullen, 19th February 2014 Readers' corner And so to El Reg Forums and Edwin, a commentard since 2007, who is having a bit of trouble in choosing IT security software for his family. He writes:
 
I'm rapidly losing my mind in the minefield that is security software, particularly when it comes to licensing many devices... The internet has become useless for this sort of research, I find: 90% of search result hits are resellers trying to sell me software rather than a comprehensive comparative review.
 Let me sketch it out:
 
I'm looking for a software solution to manage security on the family digital devices (me, wife, kids of 9 and 12). Between the four of us, we have three Windows 7 PCs, three Android tablets and four Lumia phones. The software in question must:

• provide good antivirus and general protection for the PCs for all platforms
• provide good malware protection for the tablets
• provide an overview of which android apps pose privacy risks
• be free of ads and whatnot (which is why I'm abandoning Avast)

Nice-to-haves:

• parental controls (restrict what the kids can install on their tablets)
• have some intention of covering WinPho in the future
• whatever system optimisation and other features they care to add

So far, I'm looking at Symantec, Bitdefender, Webroot and Kaspersky. They all seem to offer more or less the same features, though licensing is a nightmare: almost everyone will cover *5* devices, but not *6* (or, if we include the handsets, 10).
 
 
Full Article (which includes Kaspersky, Symantec, BitDefender AND Webroot comparison...of sorts!)