I recently bought a Dell 9200 Inspiron and it seems even Dell's "high-end" laptops aren't free of cheap components. My headphone jack is already broken. Of course, I'm not sending back a $1,600 laptop just to have the headphone jack fixed (although I know people who will). That would just be a waste of my time and money because 1/8" headphone jacks break like this all the time. Otherwise the right channel will stop working unless you pull the cable at the opposite angle so the pins touch Finally, this manual solution renders the entire connector unusable. I knew this was going to happen when I bought the laptop. I expected this so early. There are other external USB options, but this one has proven to be the best for me Solution spotted. First, it's smaller than the other options. Second, it's the cheapest. Third, since I'm not looking for the 24-bit 5.1 surround sound solution, it's spot on. Fourth, it has RCA jacks , which are much more reliable than the typical 1/8" stereo headphone jack. So I just get a 1/8" adapter from Radio Shack (a $4.00 part) and an RCA 1/8". -inch patch cord (or just use the one with supplied adapter) and replace as needed, except for the expensive return shipping of a laptop that requires no more repair than replacing a small metal pin. What I don't like is that the RCA connectors aren't routed through the card like a 1/8-inch headphone jack. This device makes it much quieter even at max volume (hence the 4 stars) But I can live with that as long as I can use my headphones with my laptop.
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