[sophiefriday]

hi all,

i have a sony vaio laptop, the model number is pcg-7d1m. i'm having a problem with the headphone socket. it used to work fine but its been getting progressively worse over the last few months. basically i now have to wiggle around like crazy in the hope of getting sound through it, and if i'm lucky enough to get anything it only works in one headphone. the same happens when i plug in my speakers. it's driving me mad as i listen to music and watch a lot of movies on my laptop.

i've hunted around the forum for possible solutions. it doesn't look good to be honest. i've tried cleaning the socket but nothing seems to work. i've tried a few different sets of headphones and get the same response.

so i'm wondering what is the best alternative. maybe i should get an external usb soundcard? if i do this will i still be able to plug in my headphones into it? could someone recommend a decent cheap one. i live in the uk.

i also saw in one of the posts that someone mentioned a usb device that simply acts as a new headphone socket. did i read right? can i buy one of these?

sorry for the drawn out post, but this has been driving me mad.

thanks for any replies.

sophie.

[Draken]

What's happening is the sound card is dying, happens a lot with on board sound. As you said a USB sound card is the best way for a laptop!

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...s=54&OrderBy=1

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/searc...SubcatUID=1533

They range from £10 from ebuyer, though they probably won't be fantastic to £100 for a top of the range one. On average you're looking at £40

[sophiefriday]

thanks for the respone.

do you think the especially cheap ones will be pretty rubbish? i'm not a big sound aficionado, as long as it sounds as good as my on board sound used to.

and maybe this is a dumb question, but will the external souncards all have a headphone socket?

thanks.

[JohnWill]

Actually, what is happening is most likely the jack is wearing out. It can be replaced, but it requires disassembly of the laptop.

[Draken]

If you'd like to take them through disassembling a laptop and replacing parts then please be my guest. I already know that some laptops can be a right bugger and unless you really know what you're doing I'd fully recommend staying away from it. A desktop I could understand taking them through step by step as it's a lot easier!

Most of them do, the cheaper ones it is difficult to tell, this seems to be the cheaper one that definitely has a headphones socket

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=78427

[JohnWill]

Draken, my point was that it's not the sound card dying, but rather the jack. FWIW, I've found that the Sony laptops are generally a real PITA to disassemble, and I agree with the idea of not taking it apart unless you really know what you're doing.

[duffman1987]

Hi I have similar sort of problem, in that my headphone jack is not working (its snapped). I have been told that its not worth the hassle getting it replaced, too dangerous/expensive to do (& i dont really wanna risk it). I am therefore thinking of either a usb headphone socket or a sound card type thing..but I dont really understand it all!

I have a hp compaq nx6125, which apparently has "Expansion Card Slots:Support for one Type II PC Card slot, with support for both 32-bit (CardBus) and 16-bit PC Cards". Is there a sound card thing I can use in these slots? As it would save on using a usb slot. If so any reconmendations/what do i need to look for or avoid?

Thanks in advance!!

[z0rkny]

if you are using a laptop I would suggest that you opt for a PCMIA card, like the audigy z2. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1746178,00.asp . I have this card and its awesome. Dont buy it from that link, you can probably find it for a lot cheaper now.

[pluneb]

im having a similar problem too when i plug in headphones there is a squeaking noise that comes through that sounds almost like you can hear the computer working it does this even when nothing is being played is this just because my soundcard is bad or broken or what im not really sure what kind the soundcard is i think its a sigmaTel (how do you check anyway)

i have a dell inspiron 1720 and its under warranty still