E1705 SPDIF Audio-Out - anyone working?

Greetings all.

First time poster, long time reader.

I purchased the E1705 back in Jan and ever since, have been working with Dell to resolve an issue using the SPDIF connector. I - like many here, ordered the SoundBlaster card only to find out that the Express card slot will not work with the PCMCIA SoundBlaster. So i thought, fine i will use the SPDIF connector (located on the back - 7-pin Din connector). Well on page 60 of the user manual, it tells you everything you need to know. I worked with Dell for 2 weeks just to get the correct wiring harness.

(granted i had a harness from an older dell, but thought perhaps the pin-outs changed).

At any case they sent this to me for free. I tried both connectors on a Latitude D810 and they both worked. Tried it on the e1705 and nothing. Worked with Dell for another 2 weeks and nothing. They wanted to send me out a new motherboard and have a tech replace, so - long story short, i had them ship me a new laptop. HA the orignal order had the 7800go and i can no longer get that. So they upgraded me to the 2.16 CPU (from a 2.0) and through in another 1Gb of ram (2 total) for free to offset that.

So now i am here with both laptops and still cannot get the SPDIF audio to work. I think it is either a driver issue or hardware issue. But i guess Dell isn't too concerned to track it down because it is not one of those high profile issue's. SO i am stuck with the ****py headphone jack for now..... A screamn' laptop fully decked out, with a ****py video card.......

In any case, has anyone ever tried (or gotten) the SPDIF audio to work?

Thanks in advance.......

 

Damm man, to much work for nothing, i just stick with my USB Sound Blaster worth 50 bucks, u can get pretty good sounds with that and some 5.1 Dolby Digital movies with the right program. And Dell sucks man, gaming laptop, entertainment laptop? wut about the sounds?

 

I agree Blues ..... WAY too much work. I could have easly just gotten a USB stick or an external controller all told, but it was the fact that:

1. they told me the pcmcia card would work AND sold it to me
2. SPDIF was told to work (and doesn't)

I guess it's just principal.........

Besides, i knew if i made enough of a fuss, i'd get a replacement. And due to the fact that i paid good, hard-earned money (like all of us do), i wanted what was promised. Seeing as Dell could not provide, i did get $500 worth of upgrades (ram and cpu) at no cost.

I am out my 7800 card to boot, but i can install the 7900 when it comes out. I don't do a lot of gaming (mostly video and photo editing), but it would have been nice to have for the few games i may play.

Guess i will just have to wait until SoundBlaster comes out with an Express card..........

 

Check this thread:

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread154685.html


In short, this is the one you want:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=310-8274

Note that it works with DVDs (5.1) and all other sounds too (but only digital stereo).

If you're going for gaming, you'll need an external card to get 5.1.