Most people that are slamming Norton, do so because, well a couple of years ago it deserved it. It was leaky (let the bad stuff get through) and was a tremendous system hog. It bogged down your computer like nothing else. They have made some pretty significant improvements with their latest release. It's lighter in terms of system resources than before and performs better. It isn't perfect and still uses resources - but not as bad as before. I'm a little confused though because you say you purchased Nortons Internet Security '08, which is a suite of tools (A/V, Spyware, Adware, Firewall etc) but NOD32 you mention was just the A/V (Antivirus). Keep in mind there is a pretty big difference obviously between a Suite and a stand alone A/V. NOD does sell a Internet Security Suite, but I'm not sure how good they are at everything else. They are a good stand alone A/V program without a doubt. As far as the full suite's go, you can probably do better than Nortons, but if you've already spent the money and don't want to throw your money away, I'd recommend using it until the subscription expires. It's not so awful that you're computer will croak. Also you have to consider your PC literacy level too. If you want more of a "set it and forget it" you probably want to stick with an Internet Suite like Norton's or BitDefender, Kapersky, etc. They all do a pretty good job of keep you practicing safe computing. If your computer literacy is high, then I'd honestly recommend going with a few stand alone products - sort of the "best of breed" method of protecting your home computer. That's how I do it and I never have problems with trojans, viruses, spyware/adware, etc.
As to your question (Finally right?!?!) I think NOD32 is a better A/V product - it doesn't hit your system resources as hard and I think it's overall better at protecting you against viruses.
I'll throw what I use and what most of my colleagues use (we work for a software company developing software for the gov't (not antivirus software
) and believe it or not - its all free, and plays well with each other.
Antivirus: AVG Free
Spyware: SpywareBlaster
Firewall: Sunbelt Firewall (free - formally called Kerio)
I've never been a big fan of the full Internet Security Suites, although I've used many of them, as free trials. I've always considered security very high on my list of priorities in computing and while you may think, then why are you using free stuff - well because it works.
Good luck with your decision. I know I posted a lot of information, but it's important to me that you have a good and safe experience surfing!
Take care and have fun!