Tried your 1520's headphone jack?

[sparker]

I've seen Dells own internal power point doc explaining how the headphone jack on the 1520 is a design flaw. A ex dell employee emailed this doc and its looks very legit. Dell also says on this doc that there is no solutions and MB replacement will not fix it. Its more or less a catastrophic issue. There were many other items of concern on that document.. enough to keep me away. most likely.

From the doc: " Issue Description:: Vostro 1500 emits a static noise through headphones during playback. The issue seems to be related to the procs C3 power states.

Status/Next Steps: Issue root caused to MB layout issue. Pending a viable work around.

Update:
Pending further update from PG on Bios workaround.
No real work around. Busmastering, Bluetooth toggle as last option.
Messaging: MB replacement does not mitigate this issue"

I don't work for dell.. but nevertheless this is leaked from their own. Either get a USB SC or other option but don't waste time on something that probably can't be fixed. Probably why some don't hear the issue as much is when toggling the BT. RMclock can also help but thats going to extremes and I would not advise that.

Can you give us a link to the doc?

[sparker]

For anyone who's interested, to get the new sound card you have to call customer care. They will try to transfer you to tech support, but tell them tech support said you have to call them and just say your sound card sucks and they know it and you want the creative express one.

Mines in the mail finally, after 7-8 calls and/or chats.

[sprtnbsblplya]

I've seen Dells own internal power point doc explaining how the headphone jack on the 1520 is a design flaw. A ex dell employee emailed this doc and its looks very legit. Dell also says on this doc that there is no solutions and MB replacement will not fix it. Its more or less a catastrophic issue. There were many other items of concern on that document.. enough to keep me away. most likely.

From the doc: " Issue Description:: Vostro 1500 emits a static noise through headphones during playback. The issue seems to be related to the procs C3 power states.

Status/Next Steps: Issue root caused to MB layout issue. Pending a viable work around.

Update:
Pending further update from PG on Bios workaround.
No real work around. Busmastering, Bluetooth toggle as last option.
Messaging: MB replacement does not mitigate this issue"

I don't work for dell.. but nevertheless this is leaked from their own. Either get a USB SC or other option but don't waste time on something that probably can't be fixed. Probably why some don't hear the issue as much is when toggling the BT. RMclock can also help but thats going to extremes and I would not advise that.

Any chance you could post this document? I want some sort of bargaining chip against those idiots on the other end of the phone when I call in to either get the X-Fi sound card or some other satisfactory end to be able to listen to headphones and not hear static.

[sprtnbsblplya]

Just talked to technical support:

11:22:19 PM Agent Sup_Abhinanadan_108541
Taylor, Technician Amit has discussed with me that you are getting the Noise issue from your inspiron 1520. Am I right?

11:22:51 PM Customer Taylor
Correct, when listening to any audio through the headphone jack of my Inspiron 1520 I hear a loud buzzing sound.

11:24:04 PM Agent Sup_Abhinanadan_108541
Taylor, Dell Engineering has already recognized this issue with this system and currently we are working on it to resolve this issue.

11:25:14 PM Agent Sup_Abhinanadan_108541
Taylor, once a fix or patch is available then we will inform our customers about it.

[HI DesertNM]

Can you give us a link to the doc?

Anyone interested should PM me..

Also, on another thread someone who I sent this to brought up info from the doc to a dell tech about the bad MB on the m1330 and the audio buzzing and that there is a newer MB replacement that fixes it.. They said Dell did not deny this internal document and was going to send him the new rev MB. So that seems to put even more legitimacy to this internal doc. The problem is, that the headphone jack on the 1520 seems to be the worse catastrophic problem with no real solutions other then toggling on the BT. The doc does mention they are working on a bios fix but that has been pending for months. This really should be raising red flags for those interested in this model. Back in June, when they first released the 1520 this issue immediately came up and is still here today. I remember one gal very early on returning her system over this and that seems to be the trend for many others. So unlike the audio buzzing issue on the M1330, the doc mentions no solutions for the headphone jack and its rather pessimistic as to when and if there will be.

My assumption is that fixing the issue would cost dear and probably require a new MB design and remapping of the headphone jack.. That would also require them to shut the line down.. thats not going to happen during the Christmas season. Dells shareholders would not allow that to happen.. them killing their biggest seller and reducing their market share. Most likely, dell will never publicly admit to this issue because of legal/recall issues. Whats sad is oftentimes Dell will offer a MB replacement to fix the issue.. when internally they admitt this does not help.. This fact is also reinforced over and over again from posts on this forum stating MB/replacement systems do not fix issue. They will eventually release a newer model and the issue will no doubt magically disappear.

It reminds me a few years back with Creative had a MP3 player zen micro that had a bad headphone jack that broke very easily. Many people took them apart to show the weak soder joint and bad design.. Creative never admitted to a problem.. But newer models shipped with a stronger design.

[HI DesertNM]

For anyone who's interested, to get the new sound card you have to call customer care. They will try to transfer you to tech support, but tell them tech support said you have to call them and just say your sound card sucks and they know it and you want the creative express one.

Mines in the mail finally, after 7-8 calls and/or chats.

I agree with you.. This is probably the best option if the 1520 is something you really want. For the price point and the fast 8600 GT GPU, I can understand why many desire the 1520. The express card option is the way to go and if you play your cards right with dell, can probably score one for free. And Its my belief dell needs to provide this free of charge until they fix this issue once and for all.

[sparker]

I agree with you.. This is probably the best option if the 1520 is something you really want.

Or, like me, you got stuck with it from a system exchange....

What is BT toggle?

My laptop doesn't even have bluetooth....

[HI DesertNM]

Or, like me, you got stuck with it from a system exchange....

What is BT toggle?

My laptop doesn't even have bluetooth....

If you ordered it with the internal BT modual, you can toggle the BT so its always on.. that apparently helps some. That will also eat your battery more too.. BT takes more battery life then one would think.. up to a hour less! If you wanted to add BT now it may be possible. I did see some threads about it and some part numbers etc.. you have to open up your case and it installs on MB. I don't know if it even eliminates the issue but reduces it. Personally, I would try getting a free creative express card from dell. That is the only way to completely eliminate the problem.. which bypasses the jacks completely.

[Razor2]

I still wonder why some 1520 have this problem and some, like mine, which has only a slight hum on very high volume levels, and I don't use some crappy headphones or speakers, my Creative HS-600 Headset or the P380 speakers are not top notch but are good enough to be sensitive enough to hear the hum.

As for motherboard redesign, my Latitude d610 had this problem as most of them and Dell never redesigned it and the audio out was really bad.

[HI DesertNM]

I still wonder why some 1520 have this problem and some, like mine, which has only a slight hum on very high volume levels, and I don't use some crappy headphones or speakers, my Creative HS-600 Headset or the P380 speakers are not top notch but are good enough to be sensitive enough to hear the hum.

As for motherboard redesign, my Latitude d610 had this problem as most of them and Dell never redesigned it and the audio out was really bad.

I think if dell routed the jacks up front like with the 1420 this would be a non issue. Incidentally, the jacks are also up front on my 15" HP dv6500t. Makes sense keeping them away from the processor and other components that could create interference issues. I do remember hearing the slight morse code effect when I briefly had the 1420. Some people report those morse code sounds being loud on the 1520. As far as headphones go, its seems to differ between makes etc.. High quality headsets have been reported to pick up the noise really bad as well as cheap ones. But it appears that there are differences. Maybe the impedance of the headset makes a difference. I am also thinking the speed of the processor may be at issue. We also know that using battery versus plugged in can make a difference as well as having the BT enabled.

I am pretty sure that Dell may have a fix by now, but that fix just costs too much to implement being it probably means a new MB design. Like your d610 this may never be fixed.