ASUS T9 Notebook

Features - Software

The ASUS T9 comes preloaded with Windows ME and a handful of applications. The bundle includes: ASUS DVD 2000 for software DVD playback, IBM ViaVoice 8.0, Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.05, PC-Cillin 2000 for virus protection, and some proprietary ASUS software such as ASUS PC Probe 2.10, ASUS Hotkey, and ASUS IDE Swap.

Apart from the somewhat useful retail software bundle, the ASUS utilities proved interesting. PC Probe provided easy access to quite a bit of useful information including CPU temperature, CPU fan status, and detailed system information.

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The ASUS Hotkey utility allowed the setup of the special function keys located above the keyboard. Each key can be programed to run any application.

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Also included were the ASUS IDE Swap utility which allowed for the hotswap of IDE devices connected via the AiBOX port and the ASUS ChkMail utility which allows the user to set up how and when to light up the mail LED on the front of the system.

All in all the ASUS T9's software bundle turned out to be pretty basic. Not included was any word processor program or any real exciting retail applications. ASUS DVD 2000, ViaVoice and Easy CD Creator were all nice to have but we would have rather seen ViaVoice replaced with something that proves to be more practical in the long run. The ASUS utilities proved fun to play with and did give vital system information that is harder to get to in some other notebooks.

Perhaps the worst part of the T9's software bundle is the included operating system: Microsoft Windows ME. We would have much rather seen Windows XP Home/Professional or even Windows 2000 on the system, as Windows ME is clearly an aging operating system. ASUS does provide Windows 2000 and Windows XP drivers for the T9 notebook on their site, making upgrading painful only on the wallet, not the mind.