Is Norton as bad as they say?

Hey everyone. I'm new to this forum. If this post is inappropriate or in the wrong section, I apologize.

Where I go, I get people saying Norton is a horrible antivirus program to have. However, is it as bad as they say? I am the type of person who freaks out when they have a virus or spyware, even the less harmful kind, because I don't want to lose all the stuff on my harddrive or have my passwords and credit card info stolen. My old computer had to be fixed several times due to viruses (we had no antivirus program at the time), so I don't want this one to end up in the same manner.

Some people actually compare Norton to a virus. Is this really true, or an exaggeration?
Does it really not detect all that much? If you pay all that money for it, it should do the job pretty well. I know it's a resource hog, but it really doesn't seem to make my comp all that slow....

I've used Norton for a couple of years and only got one small virus. I even did a scan with a free version of AVG, and it found nothing.

Should I fret over this? I am quite concerned about security. I don't go to 'dangerous' sites and I only download things through places like Megaupload.com or other hosts. I rarely open emails from people I don't know.

Do you think I am pretty safe with Norton? Call me overly paranoid if you will. It's a huge concern of mine.
Also, I don't think Norton scans my mail. I opened one up recently that contained a virus, I believe. I am not sure if the email scanning function is on. How can you be sure? Does it automatically do it, or do you have to give it the commend to?

Also, I have Norton Intersecurity and Norton Antivirus 2005. Should I update to 2007, or do you think it's safe to keep that one for a while?

Sorry for my stupd questions and drivel.