Most of you that read this blog know that I have and love a Dell Inspiron 700m laptop (here’s my review of the unit).
Being a podcaster, one aspect of the laptop that I tried out pretty thoroughly was the audio input, both mic and line in. It wasn’t able to provide enough amplification to an unpowered microphone to be usable, which is why I most often use my T40 to record the show. There was also an awful lot of noise whenever I recorded anything from the mic/line input.
Up until now, I just figured the sound hardware wasn’t the greatest, but apparently, this is a common (universal?) problem with the Dell Inspiron 700m. I was contacted by the person who has launched Recall700m.com, in an effort to raise awareness of the problem, and hopefully get Dell to do something to fix the problem.
So, I’m linking to him, to boost his Google juice, and the likelyhood of potential buyers stumbling across the issue while doing pre-purchase research. To be fair, Dell has escalated the issue to their level 3 support, and seem to be willing to look at the problem. Hopefully they’re on the Cluetrain, and will do the right thing to keep us, their customers, happy. If anyone at Dell is reading this, and is wondering why it matters, realize that if we (networked customers) wanted to, we could make this issue the #1 hit when someone googles for “inspiron 700m”.
Anyone else with a 700m have this problem?
TinyScreenfuls Feed (this blog)
Dell Latitude D610 (and D600) have the same issues too. Plus all these things have a LOT of audio noise from various components on the motherboards. I finally went out and got an Echo Indigo IO PCcard audio offload device - highly recommended.
I don’t have a dell laptop, but I do have a gateway m320x that I have to “boost” the mic on. It’s audible now, but still a little underpowered. I wonder if our laptops have the same audio gear inside? With there only being like 3 unique notebook makers anymore (and everyone rebranding the models), its possible.
-Jason
http://www.podcastdude.com
I own a 700m, and have owned 6 previous Inspiron laptops. I’m well aware of the audio limitations of laptops. This problem is not related to fan noise, hard drive crosstalk or anything like that. It’s so bad that it makes audio recordings virtually impossible the sound is so bad. You can’t even understand someone using audio conferencing. Check recall700m.com for an audio sample.
I love the 700m as well, and wouldn’t trade it for the world, as it’s maxxed out with 2 gigs of ram and a superfast 2 GHZ processor.
But…. don’t you love that word?… I do quite a bit of audio work on this when I’m out of town working on projects, and lemme tell ya…. the whole mic thing is just crazy…
You do realize that Dell has deleted all forums dealing with this issue, right? Hmmm, Level 3, yes, but (there’s that word again) it looks like somebody wants to keep “da hush hush” on this one.
Is it possible to use a usb microphone or a usb sound card? I want to buy this laptop too, but I need to use it for skype…
Yes, you can use a USB sound device. I use a Griffin iMic, which works fine.
The same here D610 with a useless audio and mic inputs. I am going to buy a bluetooth headset.
My Dell 700M had the same problem. I contact Dell support and was advised to replace my hard drive. I cannot believe this is the solution they give custom. It is not from common sense. How can the recording problem be fixed by replacing the hard drive?
Is anybody here who has the sound recording problem solved by replacing the hard drive?
This really sucks! The 700m seems like the perfect laptop for me, especially since it’s so cheap. But I guess I’ll have to buy a different brand since I need to use Skype on a regular basis. My Inspiron 1150 also has problems with using Skype at the moment. I really like Dell, but it’s hard for me to be loyal if they’re not fixing this problem.
I just got our companies 700m to use as my main laptop. I also use a 12″ PowerBook. First install was iTunes as it’s a great mp3 player and it can sync with my iPod. Well I was shocked to plug in some headphones and notice that there’s a lot of noise when just listening to audio. Turn off the mp3 player and there’s still a very audible floor of noise. Plug the headphones in the Apple and perfect - no perceptible noise. This Dell is a piece of junk for leaving the factory like this. Most people use laptops for listening to music etc. It’s unacceptable that this has such poor audio performance
I don’t recommend this laptop.
Hi and thanks for your thoughts on the 700m.
As an ex broadcast eng for ABC I can say without hesitation that Dell has really dropped the ball with the audio processing on the 700m. Yes it is true that there are tiny speakers and a limited range and power available but with very little effor Dell could have equalized the audio to be somewhat exceptable. As of now, we are about to return ours for a different model since the entire sound experience irritates us.
Additionally, after reading the comments here and at other web sites, I question Dell’s perception
for maintaining customer loyality.
Larry M.
Boc2fly@aol.com
Hi and thanks for your thoughts on the 700m.
As an ex broadcast eng for ABC I can say without hesitation that Dell has really dropped the ball with the audio processing on the 700m. Yes it is true that there are tiny speakers and a limited range and power available but with very little effor Dell could have equalized the audio to be somewhat exceptable. As of now, we are about to return ours for a different model since the entire sound experience irritates us.
Additionally, after reading the comments here and at other web sites, I question Dell’s perception
for maintaining customer loyality.
Larry M.
Boc2fly@aol.com
I too have the audio problem. I have contacted Dell many times. Each time I contact them, I get somebody different and I have to explain the entire history of the problem to them. They always ask the same questions as before and they want to diagnose the problem from the beginning. Dell is not capable of keeping any kind of history on a problem. For problems that cannot be easily fixed, Dell needs to assign a support person who will own this problem until it is resolved. This would save both Dell and the customer a lot of time.
I also had the motherboard replaced. Dell sent a third party technician to my work, since I had at home service. They did not use new parts. They used refurbished parts. I was not happy about getting someone else’s used part. The technician didn’t even ground himself while doing the work. I was shocked with how unprofessional he was. I provided him with my own anti-static kit, otherwise I expected that he would break more than he fixed. I demonstrated the problem to the technician before and after he changed the motherboard. The technician was just a part changer and didn’t have any diagnostic knowledge. So, once the part was changed, his job was done, even if it didn’t fix the problem.
Now Dell wants me to send my 700m to their Depot to have it fixed. I have read about many people who have done this and they didn’t get the problem fixed. So, I am reluctant to do this. I sent them an e-mail asking if this is the final step to the resolution of this problem and how they will compensate me if the problem is not fixed. They have not responded in over a week.
Dell also refused to send a USB sound device to work around the problem.
I have also reported this problem to ABC and CBS news to see if one of their consumer advocates will contact Dell on our behalf to get this problem addressed. Dell has really dropped the ball on this one.
I believe the best way around this problem is to buy an external sound device and just figure it is part of the cost of the system. It is not worth even talking to Dell until they have a known fix to the problem.
I would like to know if anyone doesn’t have the audio problem.
On a positive note, I really love everything about this laptop except for the audio problem.
Like one of the other posters here I loved everything about the 700m except for the audio problems I was having. But this makes the unit almost useless for doing audio related tasks.
After sending mine to the depot 3 times, and spending 12 hours total on the phone with “tech support” my wife and I ditched our 700m’s on ebay and bought iBooks. The sound on these iBook laptops is beautiful and I can use it for all of my recording without any problem.
The idea that laptops have inferior sound quality isn’t true at all. Especially with this iBook. It seems that if a manufacturer does indeed want to produce quality, they can. Dell is just looking to make a cheap buck and then screw people when they figure out that they’ve just purchased a POS.
Has anybody tried to unplug the wifi card or anything like that to see if it changes anything?
Thanks
Orhan
Has anyone recently recieved one of these 700ms? If so, does the problem still exist? I was thinking of trying it out, I need it for Law School, and if it does not work perhaps I can get a add-on card that Dell sells to work around the problem (Audigy2), I hope to beg for one for free, if not, then I guess I can return in 20 days. A USB mic does work though? Does the output to headphones also have issues? Thanks for any help, it was already in the mail before I heard about these issues.
My dell 700M screen works only in certain screen position and gets blanked out in other positions. i need to move the back and forth to make it work again. when i contacted dell customer service they asked me buy some philips instrument to fix it. they are not going to do anything else other than give me directions on how to fix it.
Orhan, the WiFi is integrated, so you can switch it off, but not unplug it without cracking the case. I haven’t tried it, but to be honest, I’ve stopped using my 700m for sound production because of this problem (I’m using a Thinkpad T42p instead).
Anonymous, that screen issue is most definitely a defect. I’d call and request escalation to a supervisor until you can get them to fix/replace it, assuming you’re still under warranty.
Amazing how much traffic and comments this two month old post still gets.
Josh, thanks for the reply. From what I have seen at http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins700m/en/SM/upgrades.htm#wp1108224 the wifi pc card should be removable, temrarily of course. It is a small probability but if that is causing the problem, then maybe some shielding might work in that tight area..
I will give it a try when I receive mine, in 10 days or so.
Orhan
Got my 700m today, first thing i did was try out the mic and headphone jacks, so far no issue. So maybe the problem has been resolved or I lucked out. I have not tried a different mic yet or voice recognition writing. I did see that my stereomix box is unchecked in the recording properties, i did read about this being a fix on another forum. i did not try to make it not work, so the best of luck to the rest of you.
I just got a call from Dell’s Executive Support department. According to the woman I spoke with on the phone Dell has isolated the problem and is working to resolve it. She also went on to say that they’ve contacted the owners of the “affected” units and offered them the ability to exchange their system for a 600m. I’ve been in contact with many 700m owners and don’t know of any of them yet being contacted for this offer, so this makes me wonder if she knows what she is talking about.
I asked her for a written statement that I’d be happy to post on the http://www.recall700m.com website. We’ll see if anything comes through. I told her that any solution would be a welcome one since there are many people who purchased 700m’s right from the start that are experiencing troubles and are just getting the runaround with Dell.
I am glad I am not alone in this. The non-functioning microphone is driving me nuts - it doesn’t register or record any sound from me even though the system says it is working fine. I am going to B-school and was really counting on this laptop to skype.
Looks like I won’t be getting any solutions from Dell re : this problem either. Can someone tell me your work around solution to this - using a USB sound card or microphone etc?
Thanks a lot!
Anyone else still having this problem with a recently ordered laptop? I was seriously considering this laptop until I read these postings. I wonder if the 700m’s currently shipping still have this problem. I can’t imagine Dell would keep selling something knowing that there is a problem.
-Toby
After 3 days with hours and hours of chat and phone calls with Dell people, I got a $100 credit for two additional pcmcia soundcards that I needed for my two 700m laptops.
Apparently, if your computer has a Toshiba harddisk, it is somewaht less affected. I think the hitachi harddisk generates more interference when it works, but I still have the noise with the Toshiba HD and the sound was not acceptable for me.
Ended up buying two Creative audigy2 pcmcia soundcards for $72. I think it was a good solution from Dell but as I said, it took much longer than necessary to settle down this issue.
I will see how usable these are going to be. Meanwhile, I will keep a close watch to see if Dell will come up with another motherboard design and call back every 700m laptop which they should.
Sorry for the long post.
Orhan
Unrelated but, you guys are probably pretty pissed because of the fact that the 700m does not have any on-screen display for the volume level. Check this link out:
http://www.wn-freeware.de.vu/
I love the Volume OSD freeware, got the English version of course. This gets another problem about the 700m fixed for me
Orhan
http://www.wn-freeware.de.vu/
Looks like its all in German? Do they have an English version?
oops, nevermind, I see the English version now. Thanks
grr…. dell needs to fix this… i also got sent replacement hard drives twice…. same problem… what happens if i dont send them back?
well, to update y’all. I just ordered and had mine shipped on 07/10/05. And yes, mic recording still has prob. I am hearing static, ticking/”thakking”, whirring sounds, etc. in playback. Tech support claims it’s my hitachi hard drive that is contributing to the sounds similar to a “helicopter flying overhead”. Since it’s in my 21-day, I’m choosing the system exchange sans hitachi option.
ok i finally got mine a couple of days ago, and yes like win said the problem is still there. I have the Toshiba drive and I can record but the sound has static.
i spoke w/dell support (got india support & to my surprise were helpful) and referenced the recall700m.com website. the tech said a manager would call me. sure enough 15 min later i got a call.
the manager said he spoke with tier 2 tech support and it is a known issue w/ the mother board. until a new revised mother board comes out, there is really no fix. he said they can swap out to a toshiba drive and try to swap out to another motherboard, but i told him that i already have a toshiba and other have reported that the motherboard swap hasn’t helped others. he will call me back on monday with some options.
I purchased a 700M 7 months ago for it’s portability to use on the road for music. When plugged into my external audio speakers there is a ton of background noise - even when using an Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PC card… I didn’t realize until recently that the 700M had this serious design flaw. Had I realized it sooner I would have returned it before the 30 day return policy was over. Now I’m stuck with the darn thing. I will never buy another Dell laptop again and will be switching to a new Acer in the near future.
I just received my dell700m. Same problem. The audio quality is awful.
I could’t immagine that Dell could sell something like that. Too bad!!!
I think I am going to return my Dell 700m. Can someone suggest me any equivalent notebook in terms of price and performance. I paid $780 for the 700m. I don’t like the idea to have a audio card that protrudes from the notebook. Maybe a USB microphone is the solution? Still cheaper that any other equivalent notebook and hopefully Dell will fix the problem in the future.
yeah i paid only $660 for mine, the sound is fine, but the mic recording sucks. but i rarely if ever use the sound and i don’t think i’d be able to find something similar and this small and such an awesome screen for the price. i’m going to get dell to give me a soundblaster card for free, just in case i ever need to record one day.
sam
Check it out.
It is a USB microphone ($16 shipping included)
http://www.mdofpc.com/onlinestore/usb-20-to-audio-adapter-wmicrophone-jack-p-8456.html
For the specs:
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-USB-MIC-1
Hi y’all,
I tried the Creative Audigy2 PCMCIA sounc card. I wan NOT satisfied with the microphone reception of this one too. It is to weak, and the only way to capture a reasonable level sound is to boost + increase the level all the way up which also creates a constant “hissing” sound on the background.
I think the on-board 700m audio is a high quality chip, but because of poor design the recording accepts interference from the HD.
I will try a usb solution and keep you posted. I already have tried the Logitech Quickcam which comes with an embedded mic. and it worked more than perfect. All I need (or we need) is a USB, only mic, or maybe a headset.
Mauro, I have doubts about that products qualty, and also technical capabilities like being full duplex which I strongly think not. Has anybody tried that product or anything similar?
Orhan
Orhan,
I order that Usb microphone. I will keep you posted. I tried also a Logitech webcam with usb mic but the quality was awful, with or without boost! I was trying to get a Creative Audigy2 PCMCIA Sound card from Dell. After 3 hours they told me that is not possible so I have now 5 days to return my laptop. By the way Orham did you try to increase the gain of the mic without boost?
Mauro,
Yes I did. It still would not capture at a satisfactory level.
Orhan
Mauro, Try to contact customer care via online chat. I did that and eventually got them to send me an Audigy 2 card.
sam
Mauro wrote:
Check it out.
It is a USB microphone ($16 shipping included)
http://www.mdofpc.com/onlinestore/usb-20-to-audio-adapter-wmicrophone-jack-p-8456.html
For the specs:
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-USB-MIC-1
Guys I received the USB Audio adapter: It works great! I don’t know if the audio quality can be defined professional but it is better than any notebook standard. The audio conferencing now is simply perfect no more static noise. Definitely worthly for the price. Small and light! Anyway the version sold by sound professional is the only one with an integrated microphone. I think it is a standard version modified connectiong a small mic inside the case of the USB adapter. I will do that by myself
Cheers
HIGHLY RECOMENDED!!!
PS: I don’t work for the company distributing the usb adapter
Mauro,
Did you actually try conference call or just recording. I am wondering if it is full duplex?
Thanks
Orhan
Orhan,
I tried it with Skype and the quality is excellent. Much better than any other laptop. It is also funny because you can add echo effects to the voice
For movies is excellent: you can choose different configurations for dolby 5.1 and reverb effects.
Just wanted to drop a note saying I’ve had a similar problem with my almost 6+ year old Inspiron 7000. Tried using a regular headset mic for voice dictation, and it was just too bad (lots of electronic interference). I had to go out and buy a Logitech USB headset (works great, btw).
I think the problem is poorly shielded components (at least, thats what one Dell tech told me a long time ago).
Is there a Dell laptop made that DOESN’T have an audio in problem?
I own an Inspiron 9100. I also has this problem. It’s almost a year old.
just got my 700m laptop… ordered it aug 15, recieved the 23rd. and yes… the problem still exists. i asked for an audigy 2 replacement soudncard but would not budge… instead, they will be sending a technician to replace my mother board. im sure it wont work but after that is done, it should leave dell no choice but to upgrade my card. wish me luck!!!!
Don’t let them replace the mother board. There are several people that have had that done several times and no change. There is a design flaw. After chatting with customer serivce online, I got what I wanted. They sent me an Audigy 2 card. Just be persistent. Don’t give up.
Same story here. Had my motherboard replaced. Then talked Tech rep into telling Cust srv to send me external card. Then spent like 3 hours with clueless people trying to charge me for the part that should come free under warranty. Finally I agreed on $75 coupon, and I paid $10 for Audigy. I haven’t won totally, but it’s still a good deal. Ah, I’m also waiting for some hard disk to arrive, they want to replace my hitachi with new one. Maybe it’ll help? I doubt it, but who knows?
Yeah they tried to pull that on me. First I was offered $50 then $75. I then asked to chat with a supervisor, she eventually offered me $100. I told her I wasn’t about to pay extra for something that should be working on the computer.
She then gave me the # to Dell’s pre-sales department and told me that they would have something in stock and what I was looking for that would be covered by the $100. After talking to pre-sales without any results, I was transferred to Dell’s spare parts, and the lady there was clueless.
I reconnected to Customer Service chat again and luckily got the same rep that was helping me earlier. I explained that no one was able to help me in the other departments. They ended up shipping the Audigy 2 card for free.
I’m appalled at the sleazy way Dell is going about getting this thing done - actually bargaining with the end users about how much money to refund - I can just imagine some owners who dislike having to fight for something that is rightfully theirs, taking the easy way out and buying a USB headset/ USB audio card and Dell sweeping them under the carpet.
I’ve truly never heard of something this ridiculous in a long time. Dell needs to pay and the way we should do it is by making more and more people aware - instead of spending money on expensive advertisements they should invest it in the R&D team to solve this problem
I bought the Dell m700 few months ago, and didnt realize there is a mic/input problem untill today…Well, its really dissappointing me since im about to buy another two 2(m700)for my sons. Well, i guess i have to move to another brand for at least a better customer service.
Just found this site because I tried to record some audio on my wife’s new 700m system and the quality was bad so thought I would see if this was a known issue.
Sounds like it is.
I would like to make some comments to anyone reading this. Due to notebook architecture there is not a good way to shield the mic input from all the other electrical components inside the system and this is why the mic in sounds bad. This could happen on ANY notebook and is likely not just any issue with Dell systems. I worked at Dell several years ago and I took similar calls on inspirion 7000 and other models of notebooks. Every computer has places where sacrifices must be made and in order to make a system so small and so cheap you are going to lose out on something. Sure a $1500 Apple probably doesn’t exhibit this type of issue.
Many people do not ever use the mic in so it’s only a problem for some people. With new services and programs though like google talk, it does become a much more important feature to have working.
I might call them and try and get them to compensate me for the cost of a USB mic or external sound card as others have mentioned but I’m not that good or patient when it comes to arguing a case like that over the phone.
I was having a similar problem with my new 700m, although I am not sure it is exactly the problem that all of you are experiencing.
I chatted with a Dell representative and was able to solve the problem by installing a driver update: Sigmatel STAC 9750 AC97 WDM Audio Driver. This update is available at http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&fileid=103937&formatcnt=1&l=en&releaseid=R78742&s=gen&~lt=print
I hope others find this as helpful as I did. At least it’s worth a try.
I bought the 700m and it was shipped on Sept 15 2005, one of the main things I use them for is video conferencing, I have always used sony’s which never had any problems. This is sickening to read this after I just bought one, I will let you know if the problem still exists and if it does its going back real fast.
Previous Anonymous ^, did the problem exist in your 700m which was shipped on the 15th of Sept (this month)?
I too am deciding on this machine and am wondering if it in fact exists. As well, is there a known problem with listening to music via external speakers or headphones on this machine?
Why DELL Why!?
We have many D600 and D610 laptops at work. Have just recieved a new product that our sales team are to demo to customers. It requires a microphone connected to the laptop. I am unable to get it working to a stage that the sales team will accept. Will be intouch with Dell rep tomorrow…
Hello? Anyone still here? What exactly is a ‘blogger site’? And did the previous person 2 msgs ago try out the mic-in yet? Hello?!
http://www.zlk.com/dell700m.html
Hi, I have a Dell 6000 and when I try to use a webcam (currently Logitech) with a built in mic it works fine with low background noise for a minute or so and then goes inot full volume static noise for a random period (10 secs) and then dops back to normal working. I have tried everything I can and afetr contacting Dell support got a reply to download dell notebook system software which I have done but the problem still persists. Oddly enough when I use a seprate mic and headset throught the standard jack/socket points on the laptop no problems.
First I am a technican and have worked and built so many laptops and I have never had such an audio problem as we are having with this Dell LATITUDE 110L. We cannot even get the audio play back to work. On any other system if you plug in a mic and talk you can hear it through the speakers. This plain will not work on this laptop. We tested it on a few other laptops and it worked fine as well as on desktop systems with all working results. Any laptop we plugged in that was Dell and had a ‘pre-installed’ OS would give us this issues. We even tryed different mics. Another thing I thought was horrible was that in the sound properties you could not even show the MIC and the Stereo in the list. How dumb is that. And trying to enable them both would not work as you had to have either stereo or mic checked but could not have them both checked at same time. I work for the local government and this laptop was issued to us by the state of CA. I am going to call Dell and see what I can do.
i am planning on buying a 700m and have heard about the audio problem. This problem is with the mic and not with the speakers, right, because i am going to be listening to a bunch of music and i don’t want it to be real staticy.
how is the sound on the 700m in terms of just listening with headphones to music and such???
12/05/05
I own a 700m shipped in Aug. 05 which has the same mic static issue. I tried the “Sigmatel STAC 9750 AC97 WDM Audio Driver” posted by anonymous above but minor to no improvement in static:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&fileid=103937&formatcnt=1&l=en&releaseid=R78742&s=gen&~lt=print
However, the “Intel 97 AC audio controller” posted by queshy on the link below as a substitute for the original sigmatel driver has decreased the noise static/distortion considerably however it is only a partial solution:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=26004&page=1&pp=10
Does choosing a USB mic or an adapter to a USB port for a conventional mic / headphone input jacks solve the problem; if so, is there a preference to buying a mic with a USB jack vs. buying an adapter for the USB port for a mic with a conventional input?? The answers in the blog so far are not convincing…any input would be appreciated
edsays_eathay@yahoo.com
Since a USB headset/mic becomes a seperate audio device in Windows, it’s completely independent of the onboard sound. So, it should be free of the design flaw that causes recording static on the 700m.
I’ve recorded using an iMuc USB audio device, and haven’t had the static issue.
i bought and own two laptops from dell the xps and my imspirion 9300 when im chatting with friends all i head is tornadoes..i mean the sound of wind is so bad. I just had a tech here who replaced my mother board because the jacks became loose..however we had ordered the latitude and the same wind problem was there. is there no way to reduce this..im just at a loss.
I had the same problem when I bought my inspiron 700m a year ago, then I bought a Logitech web cam which has a built in mic. the mic uses the usb port, not the audio input jack, and the problem is resolved like magic. And I have been using skype for a yeah without any problem. So as long as you use a usb mic instead of the audio input jack, you won’t have this pain. If you don’t want to through your existing mic away, I gus you can buy those cheap usb to audio converters.
Hi!
I have a big problem with my dell inspiron 1150 laptop.
The problem occured after I connected speakers on my computer. Theire is no sound, completly no more. But All thing simse to be OK All options are well configured But even with the laptop speakers theire is no sound.
So please is theire some one that can help me?
If any solution please contact me at jacqsadi@yahoo.com.
Thanks
hi i have same problem with my dell insprion 1150 laptop, It simse that on my laptop all options are configured corectly but theire is no sound at all? i check conection with mainbord and speakers and simse that is ok?
can some one help me? thx
I too don’t get any sound from my Dell Inspiron 1150 laptop. Has someone figured out a solution?
I bought my dell Inspiron 700m last year brand new. This year in October my left speaker stoped working. I checked into the problem online and found out it was due to design flaw. And just right now my right speaker stoped working. I dont know what to do know, since my warranty is over. Did anyone else have the same problem? Or have a Fix?
I am never going to buy anything from Dell ever again. I thought it was a good company, but the reality is they suck! Piece of $hit DELL!!!
Anyone complaining about mic levels being too low might want to take a look at this. If its a normal PC mic you’re using, the levels from these should (in theory) be satisfactory. But if you are using a dynamic microphone (a proper mic with professional sound quality) you need a seperate preamplifier, as these are not built into your laptop. You can pick one of these up for about 20GBP. I’m using a B-Tech BT26 with my Inspiron 640m, and the sound is crystal
The speakers on my Inspiron 700m recently stopped working properly, sometimes there’s sound output through the speakers, other times there isn’t. However, I have no problem with the sound output when I use my headphones so I suspected “loose” or worn out wires going into the speakers. I opened up the chasis and sure enough, the wires right at the hinge of the laptop are worn out! Not a very smart design in my opinion to have the wires RIGHT at the hinge-duh!!! Does anyone have any suggestions where I can get replacement parts (speakers) for good price?
Hi,
My dell inspiron 700m has no sound. On through diagnostic testing with system.
Dell Extended Test (CTRL+F12):All test passed except sound as follows,
1. Intel ICH4 Audio-Analog Sound Playback Test - Error Code:1B22:061B
2. Intel ICH4 Audio-Record and Playback Test - Error Code:1B22:071B
Could you pls let me know whether i can fix the sound card alone withouth changing the motherboard.
Thanks
Can anyone out there please help this computer dummy. I got a new Dell desktop last week and all I want to do is play music in Yahoo Chat through my soundcard. This was no problem with my old monster but i’m finding it impossible on this computer (Dell c521). My speakers are working fine, as is my mic but when i mute my mic i cant play in chat. Its so annoying to listen to the tap tap of my keyboard or my dog barking while I’m playing music. If anyone has an answer please don’t be too technical as I truly am a tech dummy……………….Thanks
I have an inspiron 9300, and the sound card on it is also pretty much useless for anything except for the onboard speakers. That’s really the bottom line with, it seems, the 700m, 9300, and their XPS counterparts; They hiss like snakes. (if you get too close to their audio circuits)
Hey, I have Inspiron 640m and I am also a podcaster(I just started so unknown). I have Creative SB Audigy Sound Card, but I have noise issues.
Then I found what was the problem! The Power Cable! If you remove power cable from your Laptop, no more noise! Dang, the problem is my battery would not stay long enough!
Good Luck(I’m just a High-Schooler -> Student)
Hi,
I bought the Dell Inspiration E5015 on 03-2007 , I am trying to record the streaming audio from internet. I can’t record it. The recording is only possible through microphone. It is not possible by AUX, mono out, wave out mix which is commonly available in all computer. One of the Dell supportive has claimed that nun of their lap top have streaming audio recording capability.!!.
But I gon through the http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/01/15/how-to-enable-wave-out-recording-in-vista/
It is not useful
I am really fed up if anybody have any solution, greatly appreciable.
Hi,
I bought the Dell Inspiration E1505 (the prodect is wrongly mensioned in abow post) on 03-2007 , I am trying to record the streaming audio from internet. I can’t record it. The recording is only possible through microphone. It is not possible by AUX, mono out, wave out mix which is commonly available in all computer. One of the Dell supportive has claimed that nun of their lap top have streaming audio recording capability.!!.
But I gone through the http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/01/15/how-to-enable-wave-out-recording-in-vista/
It is not useful
I am really fed up if anybody have any solution, greatly appreciable.
I too have an Inspiron 700m. The first and only time I plugged my headphones into the external port, the external speakers quit working. Of course, I have had the computer for two years and am being told by Dell that I need to purchase new internal speakers.
I’m not very happy since this seems to be a standard problem with Dell computers in general. Any help offered would be greatly appreciated!!
Annie
I had problems with my sound on my Dell Inspiron 700m. The sounds was dead in the speakers but worked fine in the headphones. I did the diagnostic test on dell’s website and it told me to error in the PSA test for the LCD Screen to see if the a sound would come out. Here’s the wizard fr the dell inspiron 700m that helped me out. http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/tree?c=us&l=en&s=gen&treeid=7863736282F84C20BAF8AE1BFE5B9C83&journalid=26DC6D975BC411DC8AC80F71FDD69875&Query=bm8rc291bmQ=&SystemID=INS_PNT_PM_700M&ServiceTag=&contenttype=-1&os=-1&component=-1&lang=-1&doclang=en&toggle=false
the sound didn’t come out and I called dell to tell them my results, they send me a box and I sent it away 2 weeks later. I’t been 8 Business days since I sent it out and so I gave them a call. I had to ask about my computer before they told me that they needed more for fixing my computer. If I hadn’t asked I wouldn’t have known and my computer bing lost ratio to being found would have increased. Regardless, instead of calling me up and saying we need to replace the entire LCD screen and it’s going to cost you this, even though you paid for the speakers replacement I had to call them up. It’s bad CS if the customer needs to check up on the device and then finds out that they need to do more, if I found out earlier I may have my laptop now. instead, I have been charged extra and I have to wait 3-5 days.
I have the 700m and have had the same problem with the audio input unit. Also with the dvd/cd player not working. Please let me know if you get any help. Thanks
Hello guys,
I have a DELL Inspiron E1505. I need to figure out, what settings can be done or which microphone shall I buy, so I can make my voice to be heard by them. I tried 3 different mics and none of them made the party on other side hear my voice. I want to know which microphone has worked for you, so i stop spending on doing trial and error on microphones.
PLease help me solving this problem.