Tried your 1520's headphone jack?

[HI DesertNM]

My only real concern is whether it actually does hearing damage. I'm kind of a pilot, and well, hearing high pitched noises is a plus. I love this laptop and that's the only thing wrong with it. Are there any other laptop's out there with similar specs/build, with the 8600gt card that don't have this issue for about the same price? I may have to return it and switch.

The biggest plus for the 1520 is the price point with the 8600GT. There are others that have it but generally cost more. It may be cheaper for you to purchase a creative express card sound card. If you are talking about the high pitched whine from the core2 intel chip that is another matter. That issue seems to effect many notebooks.. not just dell. I would get a replacement for the cpu whine issue. But as for the static noises.. either just go with another option like creative or just return it. I would not waist time on trying to fix the static issue when Dell themselves have no resolution.

[HI DesertNM]

Wow, that is absolute crap. Why are they selling these things with a faulty design?
Did it ever cross their mind that someone out there would see this laptop with its excellent specs for a low price and decide to use it for audio work? Only to realize their brand new laptop cant even output decent sound, something laptops from like 6 years ago were able to do better than this thing.
Ugh.
Too bad I'm past the 30 day mark on returns.
Does anyone know of people successfully getting a refund after like, say, the 3 month mark?

There are viable work arounds.. I strongly suggest getting the creative express card SC. That will work and give you HQ sound. There are other USB options as well. But its a worthwhile investment for someone in your situation as to being past the 30 day mark.

[scythie]

Or maybe just use wireless headphones. They should work with the laptop's integrated Bluetooth, I guess?

[dream1900]

Dell is aware of this issue. So if you think Dell is knowingly sending out bad laptops you are correct.

Hmmm. Class action suit anyone?

[HI DesertNM]

Or maybe just use wireless headphones. They should work with the laptop's integrated Bluetooth, I guess?

I don't suggest that. Mainly since it does not allow for line in recording or outputting to external speakers. When I briefly had my dell I had a pair of Motorola S9 which are considered one of the better ones out there.. Problem is they are decent enough.. but will cut out occasionally, which is something else that others have reported on these forums on the stereo BT headsets and dells. The volume levels are lower then with regular headsets. Because of the limited range and bandwidth of BT, I don't recommend waisting money on BT headsets. I have plugged in my Sennheiser RS 130 wireless headphones and those work 1000 times better with greater range, sound, volume, and battery life. But you do have to plug in the antenna bay station to the headphone jacks for that to work. Probably the best solution like I said before would be the creative express card SC which will stick out the side a bit.

As for a class action suit? I don't know if one could hold them to what should be an internal powerpoint document. This info normally would not be open to the public.. Nevertheless, it was indeed leaked. And it is indeed quite incriminating about the static/headphone jack problem. I am sort of surprised dell would have put that down in writing any,shape or form.

At any rate, the ex dell employee made some posts back on Oct 23... and I have not seen him post since. But you might say I know his sources and its legit as far as I am concerned. Read this thread and you will know who I am talking about: Gave up on my V1500 - Refund

He made two posts on this page, the first one talks about the headphone static.. futher down he discloses much more about his sources. There is no way I would purchase anything from dell now.. not that I would anyway after my first and last purchase I had with them back in July. Dell does have excellent support and customer service and I do give them high marks for that.. And I did get my money back without any fusses.

I am bringing this older thread up again on this thread since I think its worthy of more attention. For those that are going in circles over this headphone issue it may make their decision easier to return or just use another solution.. eg creative express SC etc. But I hate to see people getting frustrated when they still have the issue after a MB or system replacement. Its not ethical and poor business practices from Dell. But dell tries to avoid the real issues and plays along like its a faulty MB or something else.. when in fact it is the worst case scenario.. a bad design.

Note, Dell is also working on a bios work around.. but that is pending and so far nothing fixes issue. Busmastering, BT toggle is last option. But MB replacement does not fix problem.

The sad thing is they probably won't admit that to you in person. But behind your back its different.

[DerKaiser]

I am bringing this older thread up again on this thread since I think its worthy of more attention. For those that are going in circles over this headphone issue it may make their decision easier to return or just use another solution.. eg creative express SC etc. But I hate to see people getting frustrated when they still have the issue after a MB or system replacement. Its not ethical and poor business practices from Dell. But dell tries to avoid the real issues and plays along like its a faulty MB or something else.. when in fact it is the worst case scenario.. a bad design.

I just received my solution (I hope) which is a Turtle Beach USB sound card which is relatively small and has Vista drivers. I will install and try it out later today. It seemed like the easiest solution and not too expensive either. It was $30 shipped from Newegg.

I agree that it's a design problem, but the Vostro 1500 is such a great value considering what you can get that it wasn't worth pursuing it with Dell. That's especially true since I already have a replacement system trying to get a good screen. At this point, I wouldn't want another replacement because of the chance of getting a crappy screen. A work-around is obviously not ideal but offers a path of low resistance.

[HI DesertNM]

I just received my solution (I hope) which is a Turtle Beach USB sound card which is relatively small and has Vista drivers. I will install and try it out later today. It seemed like the easiest solution and not too expensive either. It was $30 shipped from Newegg.

Turtle beach has been making SC's for a long time. I expect it might to the trick for you.. good luck.

Also, if that does not work out for you I think the Creative express SC may be better.. but its cost much more as well.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/atta...1&d=1193672088
Creative express SC.jpg

[DerKaiser]

I had a minute at lunch to try out the Turtle Beach USB sound card. It works great. Silence is golden! Between songs anyway

[Parthurs]

I just got off the phone with customer service and setup an exchange. I'm guessing that the new one i get will have the same issue, at which point i will return it for a refund... Does anyone know of a laptop manufacturer that builds quality notebooks?

[sprtnbsblplya]

Apple.
Sager. (Clevo)
Asus.
Lenovo. My Dad just got a T61 through his office, the thing is crazy nice. Thinkpads have been in the business from the very beginning and are still going strong. If I could, I'd get rid of the 1520 for a T61p widescreen with Quadro 570m in a heartbeat.