Envy 14 Integrated Mic Problems

For the first 6 months I had my Envy 14 the integrated mic worked great. One day I went to Skype and the person on the other end couldn't hear me (no software/hardware installs since the previous time).

The microphone is recognized and I have double and triple checked settings in Skype, in the beats Control Panel, and in the Windows 7 Control Panel to ensure the Integrated Mic is the default, it's enabled, etc, etc. The mic is recognized in all these places and in programs as existing, but when I try to talk into it the mic does not record any sound and the volume meter does not show any sound coming into the mic.

I have also tested in Adobe Sound Booth CS 4 and Sound Recorder with the same results.

The IDT High Definition Audio Codec has been uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times in the device manager. I have also uninstalled in device manager, then cleanly removed the driver from windows (in windows/system32/drivers and system32/driverstore/filerepository) so that after restarting windows could not automatically reinstall and then reinstalled drivers from the package I downloaded off HP's support website.

This didn't work either, so I called tech support. That was pretty much useless - they said I did everything he had [in his script] and that I needed to reformat and if that didn't work send the laptop in.

I'm really trying to avoid reformatting/sending it in over a stupid mic, but I'm banging my head against the wall and not sure what else to do. Does anyone have any other ideas? Thanks!

 

Did you ever figure your problem out? I am going through the exact same thing.

 

Nope. But, my hard drive proceeded to fail Saturday morning. So after screaming for about 5 minutes I called HP and sent it back to them to replace the hard drive and while they're at it fix the microphone. I overnighted it to them on 2/19/11 and the website says I should have it back by 3/3/11.

I'll let you know what happens.

On a side note, HP offers data recovery for $50 and says if they can't get my data back they'll give me a full refund. Not expecting much (they may have some specialized hardware/software and be able to swap PCBs but doubt they'll open it up in a clean room if necessary), but no-risk data recovery is not a bad deal, especially at $50.

 

So here is my warranty saga so far on getting the hard drive and mic (not even the Envy screen) replaced, written as a copy and paste of the letter I wrote to the "CEO" on HP's website during my time on hold, case numbers removed:

I am having the worst warranty service experience with HP that I have ever had with any company in my life.

The hard drive and internal microphone in my Envy 14, HP's high-end "premium" laptop, failed approximately 7 months after purchase.

I called technical support and they provided me with return instructions to send it back through any Fedex Office store. When I went to Fedex Office they attempted to charge me for packaging and it took a phone call to HP and 30+ minutes of the HP rep and me begging the store manager to click the "next" button on his screen before trying charging me to get the laptop sent out (upon hitting the next button he received an account number to bill the packaging to). HP's partners have obviously not been properly educated in return procedures.

HP has now had my laptop for two weeks and no progress has been made towards repairing it, other than to push back the repair date an additional two weeks with the current estimate being one month.

All that has been accomplished in calls to tech support is the receipt of apologies, promises to check into the case and call back, and no information provided. I was also assigned a case manager, Josh, that does not return phone calls as promised and when I call never seems to be available.

My last call to the "Case Manager" hotline got me to a printer case manager after I spent 40 minutes on hold, who told me she was taking overflow calls for laptops and all she could do was request a call back in 24-48 hours (as others have promised), then put me on hold for another 20 minutes to see if she could find someone and hung up on me.

I fail to understand how HP, a computer company, can have a service center that is out of 500Gb SATA 7200 RPM 2.5" hard drives for a month when they continue to sell computers on their website with this very part and how their "case managers" can not perform tasks as simple as getting accurate status from there repair center and returning calls promptly.

I loved the product, but this "warranty service" on a premium product is ridiculous. Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated as I sit here wishing I had purchased an ASUS, because my last warranty experience with them on my old laptop took 4 business days including shipping. I don't care about the various perks (such as an extended warranty) Josh had mentioned could be possible for the wait the one time I actually got to him, all I want is my laptop repaired and back in hand as soon as possible.